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COPYRIGHT DEPOSm 




















THE MOMENT HAD COME AND SHE WAS READY 







HILDA 

OF GREY COT 

BY 

PEMBERTON GINTHER 


Author of 

The “Beth Anne” Series 

: 

■» I 
*' » » 


Illustrated by THE AUTHOR 


PHILADELPHIA 

THE PENN PUBLISHING CO. 

1923 






COPYRIGHT 
1923 BY 
THE PENN 
PUBLISHING 
COMPANY 



Hilda of Grey Cot 


Made in the U. S. A. 


JUL 12 ’23 


©C1A711162 






To my friend 

ELINOR 

memory of many pleasant 
hours spent together 

















Introduction 


Hilda's family belonged to the fashionable, 
wealthy class, so naturally she attended a select 
hoarding school. But after being graduated she 
found that owing to financial reverses her mother 
had been forced to take an attractive but small 
house in the suburbs. Being a resolute girl, de¬ 
sirous of helping, Hilda entered into the spirit of 
things and told her mother that she wanted to be 
useful and not an idle waster. The first task she 
was given was to watch the strawberry jam and see 
that it did not burn. Hilda’s intentions were good 
but the jam was burned. This, coming at the out¬ 
set was a great blow, but Hilda, through many 
trials and tribulations, learned that she had the 
strength to endure and win out in the end. 


CONTENTS 


I. 

Jam-Pots and Justice 

• 



9 

II. 

Hilda Buys Her Gloves . 

• 



30 

III. 

“ Well Begun is Half Done 

77 



48 

IY. 

The High Straight Eoad . 

• 



61 

Y. 

Clouds .... 

• 



73 

VI. 

Enter Mrs. Bradford 

• 



83 

VII. 

First Impressions 

• 



95 

VIII. 

Hilda Gets Her First Commission 



110 

IX. 

Friends and Acquaintances 

• 



130 

X. 

A Change of Heart . 

• 



144 

XI. 

Realities .... 

• 



159 

XII. 

A Friend in Need 

• 



173 

XIII. 

Captain Mulford’s Mistake 

• 



186 

XIV. 

The Dance at the Club . 

• 



201 

XV. 

From a Watery Grave 

• 



213 

XVI. 

Making Progress 

• 



232 

XVII. 

Interludes .... 

• 



250 

XVIII. 

Wedding Favors and Farewells 



262 

XIX. 

Respite .... 

• 



278 

XX. 

Jack’s Masquerade . 

• 



291 

XXI. 

Profit and Loss 

• 



307 

XXII. 

The Verdict 

• 



321 









Illustrations 


PAGE 

The Moment Had Come and She Was Eeady . Frontispiece 

Betty and Her Array of Things Were More to Her 

than She Had Expected.62 

The Girl Grasped Hilda’s Hand Firmly . . . 116 

It Was Mrs. Bradford ! ... 223 

Page Held Out a Letter With a Business Heading . 317 


Hilda of Grey Cot 


Hilda of Grey Cot 


CHAPTER I 

JAM-POTS AND JUSTICE 

A sunny morning in July with all the birds sing¬ 
ing and the pink-and-white petals in the garden 
a-flutter in the soft breeze, and a great odor of 
strawberry jam floating out among the roses. 

In the wide kitchen where the odor was the 
strongest, Hilda paused in her work on the 
heaped-up tray of fragrant red berries and drew a 
deep breath. On such a morning all must go well. 
She must tell her mother of her great plan at once, 
while the sun shone and the birds sang, but—it was 
hard to make a good staid. 

She looked toward her mother and then glanced 
hastily out through the open door. She cleared her 
throat with a tremulous little murmur. 

“ I’ve never seen such roses as in the old garden 
here,” she began. “ I didn’t dream from your let¬ 
ters and what you told me at Commencement time 
that it was so sweet.” Here she stuck for a 
moment, trying to frame her opening speech. 

9 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


Mrs. Hare’s eyes followed Hilda’s glance out 
over the sunny stretch of smooth lawn that separ¬ 
ated the kitchen precincts from the rose-garden. 
Her face was serene, in spite of all the sacrifices that 
had followed in the wake of the war. 

“ It was lovely here in May,” she answered. 
“And it is really very comfortable, though it seems 
a bit small, after Uplands. I thought you might 
feel the contrast.” 

“ It’s adorable! ” flashed Hilda. “ I love it al¬ 
ready. I wish you hadn’t made me go off with the 
Finns to Cohasset after Commencement. I’d 
rather have been here, getting acquainted with this 
cozy little place. I’m more at home here in this one 
day than I ever was at Uplands with its stiff- 
starched gardens and immense terraces.” 

“And yet you were born there,” her mother 
smiled as she sorted the ripe berries. “ However, 
you will have ample time to get acquainted and 
perhaps to tire of it before we make a change. Up¬ 
lands is leased for two years and will possibly be 
sold after that-” 

Hilda broke in eagerly. “ I shan’t mind that at 
all,” she declared warmly, hoping to convince her 
mother that she, too, could endure sacrifices. “ I’ll 
spend the rest of my life at Grey Cot, if you wish. 
I’ll never tire of it. I seem to fit in here perfectly. 

And, besides,” she gulped and struck out recklessly, 

io 



JAM-POTS AND JUSTICE 


“ I’d rather be here doing something,—something 
worth while, something you could help me with,— 
than in that big enormous house, where there were 
always so many people.” 

She saw that she had failed in her approach to the 
Great Plan. Mrs. Hare was working daintily on 
the growing pile of berries, all unconscious of the 
tremendous meaning of those last words. She ap¬ 
parently thought Hilda was referring to gardening 
or housework, and she smiled somewhat absently 
as she pulled an empty dish toward her and 
began to fill it quickly, dropping the berries in 
one by one. Hilda groaned inwardly and tried 
again. 

“ I have never told you how glad I am that I’m 
not to come out this winter,” she said, going straight 
at it now. “ I’ve got an idea for something worth 
while, and I hope you’ll let me do it. We’ve lost so 
much money this spring and you’ve done so 
much, . . . leaving Uplands and selling the 

limousine and the electrics and sending off Louis 
and the other servants, and coming to this dear tiny 
house with onlv John and Martha and that cute 
foursome,— (and not a bit of a martyr, either) that 
I felt I must do something. And Helen Finn’s 
father is an architect, you know, and Elizabeth 
Landis was graduated this year, and he says the 

sister-arts are just as much needed now as ever. 

ii 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


Landscape gardening is lovely work and Mrs* Mac- 
Allister is willing.” 

Mrs. Hare’s interest in the strawberries ceased. 
She lifted her eyes to her daughter’s face in puzzled 
surprise. “ But what in the world has Jean’s 
mother to do with landscape gardening? ” she ques¬ 
tioned wonderingly. “And are you thinking of 
taking up architecture? It’s a long course, I 
believe.” 

Once again Hilda broke in eagerly. “ Not archi¬ 
tecture,” she corrected radiantly, “ ‘ Interior decora¬ 
tion.’ You have such good taste. You could help 
a lot. The only trouble is, I’m not prepared. And 
Elizabeth wants to hang out the sign in the fall.” 

“But what has Mrs. MacAllister to do with it? ” 
persisted Mrs. Hare, very much at sea among these 
disjointed facts. “And what sign are you talking 
about? ” 

Hilda pushed her pan of finished berries from her 
and faced her mother. The moment had come and 
she was ready. She had jumbled her opening 
sentences but she felt calmer now and knew that she 
could present a good case. She and Jean and 
Elizabeth had talked it over so many times since 
that first afternoon in the Finns’ sun-parlor that 
nothing had been left unthought of. 

“ I want to help at home and do my share in the 

world-movement toward reconstruction,—to lay 

12 


JAM-POTS AND JUSTICE 


aside pleasure for a time and to take up duty in¬ 
stead,” she announced, enjoying the phrases as 
keenly as at Commencement when reconstruction 
and responsibility were strong favorites with both 
Class Historian and Valedictorian. “ I think that 
is everyone’s plain duty now and- 55 

She halted. Footsteps and an odd bumping 
sound announced Martha with the big brass preserv¬ 
ing kettle. “ I’ll tell you later on,” she ended 
abruptly and her mother’s answering nod and smile • 
made her feel that she had made a good beginning. 
She sprang to get the scales from the dresser, rather 
pleased with her method of attack. “ She under¬ 
stands how I feel about it anyway,” she told herself. 
“And that’s half the battle.” 

Martha came panting in with the great gleaming 
brass kettle which had been her pride at Uplands 
and from which she had refused to be parted. 

“ There,” she said triumphantly. “ The jam that’s 
made in that will be fit for a President of the United 
States, and I can’t say more. It’s as pure as gold 
and as sweet as May-dew.” 

Hilda, to whom the kitchens at Uplands had been 
mysteries unexplored since pig-tail days, admired 
and praised the shining yellow kettle with all the 
ardor of a discoverer. Plere was something within 
her knowledge,—her very recent knowledge of in¬ 
terior effects. “ What a gorgeous spot of color it 

13 




HILDA OF GREY COT 


makes in this grey kitchen,” she exclaimed. “ There 
ought to be small pots just like it on the dresser and 
a bright brass teakettle on the range, to carry the 
same note throughout.” 

She hoped her mother would be impressed by her 
quick perception of color harmonies, but Mrs. Hare 
was already busy with the scales and fruit. She 
motioned Hilda to bring her tray to the other table 
where she was weighing out the ruddy berries. She 
glanced at Martha who was lighting the flaring jets 
of the gas range. 

“ Has John come back yet? ” she asked. 

Martha shook her head. “ Indeed he hasn’t, 
Mrs. Hare,” she replied indignantly. “ That ga¬ 
rage man told him he’d have the lamp fixed and 
ready for him, but it’s plain lie’s broke his word, as 
usual. I’ll have to pick the peas myself, unless 
you need me.” 

Hilda interposed before her mother could reply. 
“ I know all about jam. We went in heavy for 
preserves in the Domestic Science class this term. 
I believe I could make it with my eyes shut,” she 
declared. “ It’s not a bit of trouble.” 

“You may go, Martha,” smiled Mrs. Hare. 
“ My new assistant seems very competent.” 

Martha smiling broadly went heavily out and 
Hilda, with a sense of coming conquest, poured the 
weighed sugar into the great kettle with a deft hand. 

14 


JAM-POTS AND JUSTICE 


She was glad she could show how competent she 
really was. “ Twenty pounds, and now for the 
berries,” she said gaily, but she caught herself up 
instantly. “ No, of course, the sugar must melt,” she 
added, laughing. “ Don’t call Martha back. I 
really do know all about it.” 

“ I’ll give you a fair trial,” rejoined Mrs. Hare 
lightly. “ If you spoil my jam, I’ll make you pay 
for it,—this lot is for the Orphanage and those poor 
children need all the sweetness they can get.” 

Hilda laughed easily. “ I’m not afraid,” she 
boasted. “ I’m only assistant, anyway.” She was 
wondering how soon she might find another opening 
for the unfolding of her great plan. 

The syrup was ready and the fruit was slipped 
into the bubbling kettle and the jam had begun to 
boil before a suitable moment came, but just as she 
cleared her throat, the telephone bell in the hall 
alcove tinkled insistently and she had to answer it. 

She came back quickly. “ Mrs. Jenks of the 
Orphanage Board must talk with you,” she re¬ 
ported. “ I’ll take charge till you come back,” and 
she held out her hand for the spoon. 

Mrs. Hare hesitated. “ Mrs. Jenks always talks 
an age,” she said dubiously. “ You’d better call 
Martha. Those Board people have no idea of 
time.” 

Hilda took the spoon gently but firmly. 44 1 

i5 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


could make jam with my eyes shut,” she declared. 
“ I’ll bring it out right or I’ll pay for every berry 
and every ounce of sugar I spoil. Do hurry, or 
Mrs. Jenks will think up a lot more to say,” and 
she fairly pushed her mother toward the door. 

Mrs. Hare paused a moment on the threshold, a 
gleam of amusement in her eyes, but at Hilda’s 
eager gesture she went on, throwing a last word 
over her shoulder. “ I’ll hold you to that bargain, 
my dear,” she called. “ The orphans need all they 
can get.” 

Left alone Hilda moved about with the con¬ 
fidence of the conqueror. She skimmed the bub¬ 
bling fruit dexterously, turning up the gas to its 
fullest,—she liked a brisker flame than her mother 
used. She had seen jam made so often in the 
Domestic Science classes that she found it ridicu¬ 
lously easy. 

“ Jam is the simplest thing in life,” she told her¬ 
self complacently. “ I could make it without half 
trying.” 

After she had skimmed the rosy foaming fruit she 
set down the refuse-dish and turned a long absent 
look on the sunny, tempting out-of-doors, more 
from habit than interest. All her thoughts were 
centered on the presentation of her cherished plan 
and she exulted in its attractions, as the child of her 

own brisk brain. “ She ought to like it,” she told 

16 


JAM-POTS AND JUSTICE 


herself. “ It’s up-to-date and it’s feminine, too. 
House and Home, WOman’s Time Sphere, and all 
that. She surely ought to like it.” 

The plan had really been started by her, although 
there had been much alteration and amendment 
since that first afternoon in Finns’ sun-parlor when 
the three girls had been discussing their separate 
futures. Hilda’s brain was teeming with vague 
ideas of economy to fit her altered life, none of 
which had taken shape. Jean had confessed to a 
desire to join her twin brother Hal who was with 
the Kosciusko Squadron but had frankly acknowl¬ 
edged that the eastern war front was forbidden by 
Mrs. MacAllister. “ Which leaves me free for 
almost anything,” she had drawled cheerfully. 
Elizabeth Landis, twenty-five and just graduated, 
had daringly announced her intention of opening an 
architect’s office in the fall, with full consent of her 
family and promises of support from her many 
relatives. 

It was this spark which had blown up Hilda’s 
indefinite future. All her airy ideas as to general 
helpfulness had scattered before Elizabeth’s words, 
and the magnificent plan had come crashing down 
out of blue infinity. She had cried out for a part¬ 
nership, with Elizabeth as the pivot and with the 
other two as auxiliaries. Her love for fixing up her 
rooms at Willoughby elected her to the post of 

17 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

Interior Decorator, and Jean’s hasty consideration 
of the art of landscape gardening had convinced her 
that she had found her life-work. The partnership 
was complete, save as to some trifling details such 
as the study and equipment of the two junior 
partners. 

Jean had waved her own deficiencies airily aside. 
She spoke of a course at Cornwells, only a step from 
their summer home, where she could be instructed. 
Coaching, also, was not unknown to that proud 
assembly of scenic authorities. Jean’s claim that 
she could be quite ready for the partnership by 
September seemed valid. The only obstacle to the 
perfect triangle lay in Hilda’s path. Would her 
mother consent? And, if she would, where could a 
good, cheap instructor be found in the neighborhood 
of Grey Cot? For Hilda vowed, sensibly enough, 
that she would not tax her mother further for a 
summer course or for expensive private lessons. 
They had patched the gap up with leaky plans for 
ardent study of technical magazines but they all felt 
this to be the only weak spot in the whole beautiful 
arrangement. Hilda had hoped that the talk with 
her mother would bring the solution and she chafed 
at the delay, while she dreaded the outcome. Sup¬ 
pose she should say that it was impractical? 

“ Oh, surely she ought to like it,” Hilda repeated 

rather less confidently. Somehow her mother at 

18 


JAM-POTS AND JUSTICE 


Grey Cot seemed, strangely enough, more efficient, 
more energetic than the efficient, energetic mistress 
of Uplands had been. Perhaps it was because the 
accessories,—servants, guests, possessions,—had 
been removed, giving a clearer view of her central 
figure, but, however it was, Hilda felt a new ad¬ 
miration for her charming mother,—an admiration 
that added anxiety to her suspense. She wanted 
to please and satisfy her. 

She drummed absently with the spoon as she let 
her mind drift back over all the arguments she 
would use. She wished Jean and Elizabeth were 
there to support her. She sighed deeply, and with 
the sigh she drew in a strange acrid odor. She 
turned with a little cry to see Martha hurry in at 
the back door, drawn by the same pungent smell. 
On the brightly burning gas range the big brass 
kettle was bubbling and frothing to its summit, 
little sharp puffs of evil-smelling smoke issuing 
from every foaming bubble. 

“ The jam’s burnt,” cried Martha. “ My land! ” 

Hilda followed her to the kettle and peered into 
the ruddy froth, gasping at the whirls of choking 
smoke, as Martha turned off the light, and poking 
it with the big spoon. Smitten with remorse she 
poked about among the bubbles. “ It’s ruined!” 
she lamented. “ Oh, Martha, it’s all spoiled,—- 
everv bit of it.” 


19 



HILDA OF GREY COT 


Martha nodded grimly. She had her opinion as 
to unskilled labor though she did not voice it. “ It’s 
sure burnt up,” she agreed tersely. “ It’s only fit 
for the gobbage-can now.” 

Hilda, sniffing the seething mass as it subsided 
into a red, tempting surface, shuddered at the 
nauseating smell. “ It’s sickening, positively sick¬ 
ening,” she wailed, flinging the spoon into the sink. 
“ It’s abominable. Here, help me dump it 
out-” 

She started at the sound of her mother’s step and 
she turned tragically as Mrs. Hare hurried into the 
kitchen. She knew her failure had been heralded 
on the soft summer breeze and her voice was poign¬ 
ant as she cried, “ I’ve burnt the jam! ” 

Mrs. Hare came into the wide, sunny kitchen with 
a serious face, not noticing Martha’s pantomime as 
to the wreck. “ So you really couldn’t do it after 
all,” she exclaimed regretfully. “ I am so sorry.” 

Her sympathetic tone made Hilda wince. She 
was much more ashamed of her poor performance 
than if her mother had been annoyed. “ But I’ll 
pay for it,—every bit,” she declared eagerly. “ I’ll 
make another lot, too, to show that I can do it. 
I’ll make it right away,—after I can get more 
berries.” 

“ Not in this kettle,” Martha interposed firmly. 

“ It’ll take many an hour’s soaking to soften this 

20 



JAM-POTS AND JUSTICE 


crust at the bottom of the pot. You’ll have to use 
other utensils than this here, Miss Hilda.” 

Mrs. Hare glanced at the kitchen clock. “ What¬ 
ever is to be done will have to wait until later,” she 
said quietly. “ I have some sewing to do before 
luncheon and Martha will want the kitchen in a 
few minutes. I see John coming in. Go tell him 
to finish the pea-picking, Martha, while you clear 
away these things. Come, Hilda, you can help me 
with the nightgowns for the Orphanage.” 

Hilda followed her mother to the little room 
where the piles of cut garments were waiting. She 
put her hand in her pocket and then drew it out 
again hastily, a deep flush slowly spreading over her 
face. She braced herself for confession. 

“ I’ll pay for the burnt jam, Mother, and I’ll 
make it again, too. But,” and here she gulped, 
“ I’ll have to draw on my next allowance. My cash 
never stretches over more than half the month and 
it’s the fifteenth now, you know.” 

There was an uncomfortable little silence before 
her mother spoke, and the tiny pause gave her 
words added emphasis. “ One of the first duties 
that we owe the world is the best use of our money,” 
she said gently. 

Hilda blushed deeply but she answered bravely, 
“ I know, Mother dear, and I am honestly going to 

do better after this. I’ll turn over a new leaf and 

21 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


begin this very day,” she hesitated, “ that is, I’ll 
have to wait till the end of the month to begin with 
the actual money but I’ll begin in my mind this 
moment.” 

“ How about the jam for the orphans? That 
can’t wait till the end of the month.” Mrs. Hare 
smiled but she did not offer to advance the sum for 
the lost treat. Hilda’s eyes dropped and she had 
no reply. She had hoped to win favor for her plan 
by her skill as a jam-maker but now she felt de¬ 
feated at the very outset. 

“ Couldn’t I do some work,—some sewing, any¬ 
thing that couldn’t scorch,” she murmured. “ I 
could pick some vegetables or cut the grass-” 

Mrs. Hare’s clear laugh cut her short. “ John 
would have to go with you to show you what to 
pick, and as for the grass, he does it very well. I 
think, my dear, you’d best try something indoors. 
How about these gowns? I’ve promised them for 
Friday and they aren’t touched. I was going to 
get Miss Jones to help but she is busy. Do you 
think you can earn the sum I was going to pay her? 
It’s very simple work and you know how to run a 
sewing-machine, I believe.” 

Hilda jumped at the suggestion. She had learned 
to sew recently at the Cohasset Defense Society,—a 
wartime hang-over, Jean called it,—and she was 

very proud of her skill with the treadle. 44 I’ll be 

22 



JAM-POTS AND JUSTICE 


awfully glad to do it,” she promised earnestly. 
“ And I’ll be frightfully careful this time. Please 
show me how they go together and I’ll do them 
all.” 

Mrs. Hare showed her how the simple pattern 
fitted together, where the pockets went on, and how 
deep a hem was wanted. Then she rose. “ We 
won’t haggle over the price,” she said brightly. 
“ If you manage these for me by Friday I will be 
quite satisfied. This work will just about pay for 
the burnt jam.” 

Hilda understood that she was being paid gener¬ 
ously and she showed her gratitude not only in 
warm words but by plunging into the work at once, 
only glancing up to nod emphatically as she added, 
“ I’ll finish these on time. You’ll see. I wish 
you’d let me do the jam again, though.” 

“ I think we’ll-” began Mrs. Hare, when a 

noise outside made them both turn their heads. 
The sound of a motor was heard beyond the hedge, 
and someone was coming up the walk between the 
tall box-bushes. As the figure turned the corner 
toward the little room, Hilda cried out in surprise, 
rising and running to the door. 

“Jean! Jean MacAllister! ” she exclaimed. 
“ Why aren’t you in Maine? You said you were 
going straight there from Cohasset.” 

Tall, lanky Jean grinned and shook hands 

23 



HILDA OF GREY COT 


heartily,—she was not given to demonstrations. 
“ You don’t seem bubbling over with joy at the 
sight of me,” she drawled. “ I did go to Maine, but 
I didn’t have to stay there, did I? How’s business? 
Oh, how do you do, Mrs. Hare? I’ve come to see 
about this new partnership of ours. I just got 
news that Hilda needs to hear.” 

It was so sudden that Hilda gasped. Mrs. 
Hare seemed less taken aback, although she showed 
surprise. “ Partnership? ” she questioned. “ Is 
that what Hilda was going to tell me about? ” 

Jean faced about again. “ Haven’t you told 
her yet? ” she demanded. “ How in creation have 
you kept it in? ” Then, with more briskness than 
usual to her, she turned to Mrs. Hare. “ We 
three,—Elizabeth and Hilda and I want to be part¬ 
ners in a paying business, Mrs. Hare,” she said 
soberly. “ I’ve got my course all mapped out and 
Mother willing to help. My work doesn’t come in, 
anyway, till after the houses are built. It’s like 
Hilda’s in that. And I’ve a promise of a contract 
for a bungalow, garden, bath-house and all, up on 
the coast if the partnership goes through. Eliza¬ 
beth has a little summer cottage to build for her 
cousin,—partnership again. So the business end 
of it is all right. As to Hilda’s being ready for the 
Interior Decorator end of it by fall, I’ll vouch for 
that, too.” 


24 



JAM-POTS AND JUSTICE 


Hilda made a strange sound in her throat but 
Jean went on unheeding. “ Mother has a white- 
whiskered friend, a Mr. Dalton, who used to play 
Jacks or something with her centuries ago, and he’s 
a perfect encyclopedia on periods and fabrics and, 
oh well, everything that’s beautiful and right. 
He’ll show Hilda the art of furnishing, if you will 
let her study with him. He’s really a wonder. 
And he won’t take a cent,—old times, you know, 
and all that.” 

Hilda clasped her hands so hard it hurt hut she 
would not utter a word. She meant to let Jean 
make the appeal. She sat in tense expectancy 
while Mrs. Hare put many questions to which 
Jean gave thorough replies. The solution of 
the problem of study had been marvelously solved 
but there were many things to be considered. 

After Jean had ended, Mrs. Hare sat for a short 
while in silence, while Hilda watched her eagerly, 
hardly breathing in her suspense. When she spoke 
her voice had a tone that revived Hilda’s sinking 
heart. 

“ All this is very unexpected, of course, but life 
moves rapidly and we must move with it,”shebegan. 
Then she turned to Jean with a changed look. 
Hilda could not decide whether it was more hope¬ 
ful or less encouraging. “ We’ll think it over and 

telephone you, my dear,” she said with decision. 

25 


HILDA OF GREY, COT 

“ We can decide in an hour. Where can we reach 
you at twelve? ” 

Jean rose and shook hands. “ Twelve’s the 
hour,” she responded heartily. “ But I’ll be at odd 
spots, so I’d best call you. Now I’m off,—got a 
lot of errands for Mother. Good-bye and thank 
you, Mrs. Hare,” and she was gone without another 
word to Hilda. 

As the chug of her motor died into the distance, 
Mrs. Hare led the way to the library and Hilda fol¬ 
lowed with a sense of something final in the air,—a 
climax that might include the whole morning,— 
burnt jam and all. 

Mrs. Hare seated herself at the desk, and drew 
out books and papers while Hilda’s sense of climax 
grew. As soon as the papers were laid in a neat 
pile Mrs. Hare spoke quietly and seriously, looking 
straight into Hilda’s eyes with her clear gaze. 

“ This plan of you three girls seems a practical 
enough opportunity for a trial of your abilities,” 
she said. “ I feel that you should at least have the 
chance of testing it. I am going to agree to your 
having a share in the project,—under certain con¬ 
ditions.” 

Hilda’s heart leaped and then sank. She did not 
know what hard problem she might confront and 
she found no words to reply. She waited nerv¬ 
ously. 


36 



JAM POTS AND JUSTICE 

“ I hope you will feel I am quite fair in asking 
what I shall ask,” her mother went on with a touch 
of almost wistful kindness in her tone. “ You may 
begin your study with the understanding that if, in 
two months’ time, your allowance is overdrawn or 
your accounts unbalanced, you will cheerfully and 
promptly give up the thought of having any share 
in this partnership.” 

“ Is that all? ” broke out Hilda in great relief. 
“ Oh, I’m so glad it’s only that! I thought you 
had a program of good works that would end my 
chance. I’m so thankful it is only that! I can 
promise easily, oh, so easily! ” 

Mrs. Hare smiled but her eyes grew sober as she 
touched the books and papers. “ I am going to 
start you on a new schedule,—a fresh page,” she 
said. “ I have been only waiting for your return. 
Since everything is now so uncertain, I have begun 
to realize that you should understand the manage¬ 
ment of your own affairs for yourself. I am going 
to put a certain sum into your hands to administer 
as you will. I have here the papers for the amount 
invested for you, the income of which is available 
for your use. Mr. Lanford attended to it for me, 
and it is all clear and straight. Here are the papers. 
Your income,—which will have to suffice you for 
everything save your actual board and lodging here, 

—will be about a hundred dollars a month. We are 

27 



HILDA OF GREY COT 

not, as I have said, very poor, but compared with 
our past we are compelled to economize very closely 
indeed. You have not known the value of money. 
It may prove hard for you. However, both Mr. 
Lanford, who is a shrewd lawyer, and I feel that 
it is enough for any sensible girl of seventeen in a 
comfortable home in these times. I hope you will 
get on well with it.” 

Hilda had herself together now and realized what 
had haj>pened. The climax was better than she had 
imagined. She was to be started off with her 
allowance of new income just when her purse was 
very flat. She had no memory of what she had lived 
on before this but she knew that she should manage 
gloriously on the hundred in her hand. She 
jumped up and kissed her mother ardently. 

“ Oh, I’ll do beautifully,” she prophesied. “ I’ll 
get through with a margin, too. I’ll surprise you. 
I have so much to try for now” 

“ It is in your own hands,” replied her mother, re¬ 
turning the embrace. “ You shall be interior dec¬ 
orator as long as you please, if you can show a clean 
record each month, but if you burn the jam,”-— 
they both laughed here,—“ you will have to come 
back to being just a plain girl. That is the bargain, 
isn’t it? ” 

“ It’s only plain justice,” responded Hilda. “ I 

don’t deserve to be a business person if I can’t keep 

28 


JAM-POTS AND JUSTICE 


my funds straight. You're letting me down very 
easily, Mother dear.” 

Mrs. Hare laughed again and her voice had a re¬ 
lieved note. “ I’m glad you feel that way about 
it,” she said brightly. “ And I do hope that it will 
be as easy as you expect.” 

“ Oh, it’s going to be pitifully easy,” declared 
Hilda, exultantly. “ Money is such a contemptibly 
unimportant matter. I shall soon have it under 
perfect control, now that I’ve turned my attention 
to it.” 

She glanced toward the tall hall clock and then 
her eyes rested on the blue papers that her mother’s 
slim fingers still held. She put out a resolute hand 
to receive her new responsibilities and her voice rang 
gaily as she cried, “ Oh, it’s going to he pitifully 
easy! I wish Jean would ’phone this very in¬ 
stant! ” 


t 


29 


CHAPTER II 


HILDA BUYS HER GLOVES 

“ And now I must be taken to the Orphanage at 
once,” said Mrs. Hare. “ I’ve overstayed my time 
and am disgracefully late.” 

She paused on the lower step of the neat, red¬ 
brick home of Hilda’s new instructor, Mr. Dalton, 
which, in spite of the more pretentious houses about 
it, had a very pleasing air. Hilda had liked it at 
once. 

Jean claimed Mrs. Hare before Hilda could 
speak. It was a game they always played when 
possible. “ I’m going your way, Mrs. Hare, and 
I’ll have you there in a jiffy,” she said quickly. 
“ Hilda’s so dazed with joy that she’d climb the first 
trolley she meets,—you’re much safer with me. 
She has her books and instruments to get, too.” 

Mrs. Hare stepped into Jean’s big machine at 
the curb, smiling at the radiant Hilda who held 
the door for her. “ I suppose you’ll get back in 
time for dinner? ” she asked gaily. “ As a pro¬ 
spective member of a business firm you are bound to 
be punctual and precise, you know.’* 

30 


HILDA BUYS HER GLOVES 


Hilda rippled in response. The pleasant banter 
added to her delightful sense of reality of the facts. 

“ I’m crazy to get these things,” she confessed, 
laughing. “ I’ll go straight to Dunn’s and get the 
books, and then stop at Wright’s for the drawing 
things. I’ll get those brown gloves for you, too, 
Mother,—Watson’s is on the way home.” 

She waved gaily as the big car swept away and 
then she turned to the neat blue foursome, with her 
heart singing within her. 

“ I’m really started now,” she thought with a 
thrill. I’m part of that new life-tide the lecturer 
spoke of. . . . It’s going to be so easy, too.” 

She smiled at the memory of the pleasant middle- 
aged gentleman who was to guide her through the 
maze of Adams and Empire styles, to teach her to 
distinguish instantly between Heppelwhite, Chip¬ 
pendale or Sheraton, to enlighten her as to India or 
Chinese chintzes, English crockery, Spanish leather- 
work, French tapestries and wall-decoration in gen¬ 
eral, with a side-light on the history and construction 
of stained glass, both modern and ancient. Mr. 
Dalton had promised to perform the miracle of 
making her ready to undertake the partnership in 
the early fall. 

And Hilda entirely believed him. She knew 
that her life among objects of rare and costly fur¬ 
nishings had prepared her somewhat for this ad- 

31 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

venture, <c I’m glad Mother taught me to have 
an interest in tapestry and pictures, for it all helps 
now,” she thought as she slammed the car-door and 
sank on the cushioned seat. “ And I’ll study every 
minute of my time. I won’t waste a single second.” 

Planning happily she put the car to the speed 
limit and made a swift flight to Dunn’s where she 
secured the books recommended by Mr. Dalton, 
Then she hastened to Wright’s and got her draw¬ 
ing materials. The shining new instruments were 
very enlivening to her imagination, and she saw 
herself in a rosy future using compass and T square 
with such skill that she felt she deserved none but 
the best. She came out of Wright’s with another 
large receipted bill in her pocket. 

“ I’ll make it up easily,” she thought com¬ 
placently. “ It isn’t as though I were going to buy 
new instruments every week. These will last the 
rest of my life, I fancy.” 

This reasoning made her feel that she had done 
well in stocking herself for all those long years that 
stretched before her in such pleasing perspective, 
and she almost forgot the gloves she intended to buy 
for her mother. A glance at her wrist watch told 
her that she had but five short minutes before the 
closing hour. 

“ I can make it if I fly,” she said as slie swung 
the car out among the traffic. “ It’s a mercy that 

32 


HILDA BUYS HER GLOVES 

Watson’s is just around the corner and that Miss 
Briggs is so obliging.” 

She made it in exactly two minutes and breath¬ 
lessly made known her need of Miss Briggs to a 
decorative damsel with huge side-bobs and sup¬ 
pressed chewing-gum, who waved her wearily away, 
and without looking up called in a flat voice, “ Miss 
Carter, customer!” And then went on with her 
work of straightening up for the night. It was 
plain that mid-July at Watson’s glove counter was 
not her ideal of bliss. 

Hilda hurried to the other end of the counter, 
looking in vain for the kind elderly face so familiar 
from years of shopping at Watson’s. The gong 
was sounding in the far-off upper floors and she 
knew her errand must be accomplished at once if it 
was to be done at all. She tugged at the sample of 
pale brown tissue that stuck in her pocket, while 
she ran her eyes over the three or four saleswomen 
all bent on the business of putting away boxes and 
exhibits on shelves and under the counter. No one 
looked up at her, and she was about to speak rather 
crisply to the bent back nearest her when, from be¬ 
hind a tall glove-stand a small slim girl came smil¬ 
ing toward her, a girl with a soft knot of light hair 
at the back of her shapely head, and a remarkably 
low sweet voice. 

“ May I wait on you? ” she asked, more as 

33 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

welcoming a guest than serving a belated cus¬ 
tomer. 

Hilda beamed her relief. The indifference of the 
others made her doubly grateful. “ I’m awfully 
late. Will you have time? ” she responded grate¬ 
fully. “ I couldn’t find Miss Briggs,—thank you, 
here’s the color, and long gloves, please. You’re 
awfully good.” 

The girl’s smile was cordiality itself as she took 
the sample and began a businesslike, swift search of 
the boxes on the shelves at the back of the counter. 
“ I’m right glad to wait on you,” she said, simply. 
“ Miss Briggs has left and I’m taking her place. 
You take about a six, I reckon.” 

“ How in the world could you tell? ” asked Hilda 
impulsively. “ Most people measure and measure 
and then don’t get it right.” 

The girl smiled as she brought a box to the 
counter. “ I thought your hands were about my 
size,” she explained, unfolding the tissue wrappers 
to disclose just the gloves Hilda wanted. Her 
hands were slender and delicate and she moved her 
fingers with a swift precision which bespoke a 
trained and intelligent mind. Hilda was struck 
with the difference between her movements and 
those of the other saleswomen about her. 

She watched her with growing interest as she 
made out the check and handed the gloves to the 

34 


HILDA BUYS HER GLOVES 


wrapper in the cage above the counter, and then 
turned to complete her own work of closing up for 
the night. She felt that there was something un¬ 
usual and puzzling in her presence at Watson’s 
glove counter. She simply could not help staring. 
When the envelope with the gloves was in her own 
hands, a sudden impulse made her put a very direct 
question. 

“ Are you really used to this sort of thing,—sell¬ 
ing gloves and all that?” she asked with a warm 
interest that robbed the inquiry of any impertinence. 
“You don’t seem to belong here, somehow.” 

The moment the words left her lips, she felt that 
she had been very abrupt and personal, but the girl 
did not seem to share the feeling. She turned to 
Hilda with a flush of pleasure. She seemed to rec¬ 
ognize the ring of comradeship in the tone and she 
responded to it with quick candor. Her face 
blossomed into sudden beauty as she spoke. 

“ I’ve been here only a week,” she said in her soft 
low voice. “ It really is mighty interesting work, 
if one only looks at it in the right way. It’s 
wonderful how much real plain human nature one 
sees behind a counter like this.” 

Hilda felt a flash of admiration for the ease with 
which her question had been handled. The girl had 
answered it in a way that took the personal element 
from the situation and yet very plainly showed that 

35 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

she did not belong here. Another swift impulse, 
born of this admiration, caught her and carried her 
quite away. She determined to know more of this 
unusual girl. 

“ Won’t you let me run you home to make up for 
keeping you beyond the time? I’ve delayed you, 
you know,” she said eagerly. “ Our car is outside 
and-” 

The gong was sounding insistently near by now, 
and Hilda’s sentence was cut in two by the polite 
floor-walker, but she halted long enough to clinch the 
matter by saying positively as she moved off, “ I’ll 
wait on Clinton Street by the side door,” and then 
she went swiftly with the few other belated shop¬ 
pers who were hastening toward the exit, smiling 
to herself at the success of her sudden impulse. 

Out on Clinton Street in the warm sunshine she 
waited with the same smile on her lips. She liked 
having her way in small things like this and the 
novelty of the thing piqued her interest. She for¬ 
got entirely the virtuous task she had planned for 
herself at home for this very half hour. 

When, after a few minutes, the girl joined her at 
the curb, she was even better satisfied with herself. 
Her new acquaintance was most attractive in her 
quiet street dress and her face glowed prettily under 
her smart little hat. She looked younger and fairer 
out here in the sunlight of the July afternoon, and 

36 



HILDA BUYS HER GLOVES 

the air of distinction, the intelligence and grace of 
her movements, were more emphasized. She was 
the sort of girl Hilda would expect to find in luxu¬ 
rious, happy surroundings, far removed from the 
drudgery of a modern department store. 

Hilda took a long, sideways look at her as she 
stepped into the car, and her wonder grew. The ad¬ 
dress of the modest suburb added to her curiosity, 
but she kept her feelings to herself while they were 
in the thick of the traffic and chatted lightly of any¬ 
thing that came to her lips though her mind was 
busy beneath her gay sentences. When they were 
on the open road, however, another sidelong inspec¬ 
tion of her companion made her burst out again in 
spite of herself. 

“Don’t tell me you belong in that store!” she 
cried. “ You simply can’t—you are so totally dif¬ 
ferent. You are—well, you’re just sweet! ” 

A little queer sound in the girl’s throat haltedher. 
She felt she had been too impetuous and she flushed 
a rosy red. Almost unconsciously she laid a hand 
on the other’s arm. 

“ Please don’t mind me,” she said. “ I didn’t 
mean to hurt your feelings,—really I didn’t. It 
was silly to say such things. Where one is doesn’t 
matter at all, does it? It’s what one is, after all.” 

She had an uneasy sense that she had not made 
matters much better and she quickly turned all her 

3 7 



HILDA OF GREY, COT 

attention to the roadway which was fortunately 
being repaired just here. She hated herself for her 
offensive words. “ She’ll never want to see me 
again,” she thought ruefully. 

“ I think you have never been in a place where 
you didn’t really fit,” said the girl, very unex* 
pectedly. “ You wouldn’t talk that way if you 
had.” 

Hilda almost stalled the engine in her surprise. 
She turned eagerly to flash a sympathetic look at 
her new friend, but she had the strength of mind not 
to open her lips, understanding that the other girl 
was going to say more. 

“ It isn’t the glove counter, or the people or the 
work, you know,” the girl went on in her soft voice. 
“ I reckon I’d get used to all that. But it’s the way 
they act toward me,—as if I were a sort of enemy. 
I’ve seen mountain folks act that way to strangers, 
but they’re always looking for government agents, 
you know.” She laughed a sad little ripple. “ I 
just can’t get used to it. When they aren’t down¬ 
right unfriendly,—like that Miss Mullens with the 
big hair-puffs,—they’re so cold. It’s mighty lone¬ 
some.” 

She paused, but Hilda merely gave her another 
friendly look and kept her attention on the road, 
delighted with the sudden sense of intimacy with 
this attractive mysterious girl. 

38 


HILDA BUYS HER GLOVES 

“ Do you believe it,—there hasn't been a single 
soul who has said more than two words to me since 
I went there,” she went on more earnestly. “ You 
can't tell how I felt when you asked me to ride home 
with you. It was mighty like heaven, I can tell 

you. To talk to someone who—who-” she cut 

short her emotion with another little ripple. 
“ Sounds like a regular old owl, doesn't it?” she 
ended brightly. “ But you know what I mean.” 

Hilda nodded. “ I know,” she responded, and 
the look they exchanged melted all her reserve 
again. She faced about, flinging caution to the 
winds. “ Tell me,” she spoke vigorously, “ tell me 
why you are in that store,—where you don’t belong? 
Why are you lonely? Haven’t you anyone,—any 
family? ” 

The other looked down twisting her fingers to¬ 
gether as though in doubt, but in another instant 
she looked up again and straight into Hilda’s eyes. 

“ Will you promise not to tell anyone? ” she ques¬ 
tioned. “ Not anyone at all? I shouldn't want 
Carter to hear of it for the whole world.” 

This sounded like melodrama and Hilda had 
never come close enough to melodrama to recognize 
it,—apart from moving pictures. “ Oh, I’ll never 
breathe it,” she vowed. “ Never. Not to a living 
soul! ” 

Her ardor satisfied the other. She drew a deep 

39 



HILDA OF GREY COT 


breath and sank back more comfortably. “ It’ll be 
mighty nice to talk it out with someone,” she con¬ 
fessed. “ It’s most three months now since Carter 
went, and he’s the only family I’ve got left. I 
couldn’t talk to strangers, you know.” 

“ Of course not! ” agreed Hilda heartily. “ But 
we’re not strangers. We’re going to be good 
friends.” She was eager for the mystery, and she 
slowed the car to a crawling pace. “ Do tell me all 
about it,” she urged warmly. 

The other smiled at her, a very pleasant smile. 
“ I reckon I ought to begin at the usual beginning,” 
she said. “ Names come first, don’t they? My 
name is Page Carter and our family comes from 
Princess Anne.” 

Hilda knew enough of Virginians to understand 
that her new friend was speaking of the county and 
not the town or village of her birth. “ My name is 
Hilda Hare,” she volunteered in return. “ I live 
with my mother in Grey Cot, a little place over on 
the other side of town. I’ve just come home and 
I’m going to study Interior Decoration so as to go 
into a partnership with two other girls in the fall.” 
She poured out this information, not because she 
hoped to encourage Page Carter, but simply be¬ 
cause she could not keep it to herself. Nevertheless 
it had its effect. Page leaned forward and began 
to talk. 


40 


HILDA BUYS HER GLOVES 


Hilda, hoping for melodrama, listened eagerly, 
but she found only a story of sisterly, unselfish love. 
Page said her brother Carter had been with a city 
firm for a while. Then he had an offer to go to 
South America for six months, and Page had in¬ 
sisted on his going. She was to stay at the Marta- 
Marie where she had some slight acquaintances. 
All went well at first. Carter had written that he 
had found a splendid opening but would have to 
save hard. He joked about living on seventy-five 
cents a day in order to be a millionaire in a year but 
Page knew he was straining every nerve to make the 
needed sum at the appointed time. She had ex¬ 
pected to save and send some money to him, but the 
letter from her new trustee telling of the bank 
failure had dashed that hope. It had done some 
other things, too. 

It had made Page leave the Marta-Marie and 
find a cheap boarding-house. “ Of course, I 
couldn’t tell poor darling Carter that my money 
was gone,” she said, simply. “ He’s just got to go 
into that partnership,—you know that.” 

Hilda knew it very emphatically. “ Of course,” 
she agreed warmly. “ He must do that. Go on, 
please.” 

Page went on to tell of her sudden realization 
that she must find money somewhere, since she 
wouldn’t call on her brother in this crisis. “ It 

4i 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

came over me all at once,” she explained. “ I 
thought, ‘ Suppose I get ill? ’ I couldn’t pay a 
doctor. I reckon it was that owl on my window¬ 
sill one night that made me think of that, like a 
warning, you know. Owls mean sickness or death 
and an owl right in town was mighty disturbing to 
me.” She sighed. “ The glove counter at Wat¬ 
son’s was all I could get but it’ll keep me going till 
Carter gets on his feet.” 

Hilda wanted to dispute the superstition of the 
owl but her brain was full of whirling plans. 
“ You won’t need to stop at the glove counter,” she 
said. “ Mother knows tons of people and a private 
secretary would suit you-” 

“ I did not give you my confidence in order to 
obtain help,” said Miss Page Carter with dignity. 
“ Your promise was given, I believe.” 

Hilda bore the dash of cold water bravely but her 
ardor did not cool. She felt that some good would 
come to Page, whether she desired it or not. She 
determined to take her mother down to Watson’s 
the very next day, keeping her vow in the letter if 
not in the spirit. She made amends to her new 
friend and parted from her at the curb of a rather 
shabby little detached house with great good feeling 
on both sides. 

“ You’ve been mighty kind to me,” Page said 

seriously as she shook hands and stepped lightly 

42 



HILDA BUYS HER GLOVES 

out on the narrow strip of concrete that led to the 
meagre frame house. “ I’ve enjoyed the ride,— 
and the talk,” she added smiling. “ I hope I’ll see 
you again.” 

“ You surely will,” responded Hilda. “ I’m 
coming over here to see you very soon, and you’ll be 
coming over to see us. You’ll find Mother per¬ 
fectly wonderful. She’s not a bit like me. I’ll 
keep my promise, though, and not tell her about you 
till you come.” 

Page had shrunk at the mention of a visit but 
brightened again at these words. It was plain she 
meant to keep her seclusion as close as possible. 
“ You’re mighty kind,” she repeated, as Hilda 
started the car. Then she turned and ran lightly 
up the steps of the porch, where she halted for a 
farewell wave. 

Hilda was smiling as she drove through the 
lengthening violet shadows toward Grey Cot. “ I 
knew there was something different about her the 
moment I laid eyes on her,” she thought as she sped 
along. The sense of having guessed right, added 
to the zest of her enlistment in the ranks of world- 
workers, made life almost too perfect. Yo memory 
of burnt jam darkened the sunny landscape of her 
mind. The only faint shadow was her pledge 
to Page Carter, and even that was a fleeting 
one. 


43 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

“ Something will happen to take her away from 
that horrid glove counter,” she told herself as she 
turned into the curving street that led to Grey Cot. 
“ I feel it in my bones that she won’t stay there 
long.” 

She ran the car neatly into the garage back of 
the rose-garden and jumped gaily out, diving into 
the back seat for her parcels. The world was a 
very agreeable place indeed. The box of instru¬ 
ments alone was proof that the future held much in 
store for her. 

John met her questions tolerantly. “ Mrs. Hare 
hasn’t come in yet. Martha says she ’phoned that 
she’d be late,” he told her. “ Shall I take them 
packages for you, Miss Hilda? ” 

She shook her head. “ I’ll take them every one 
myself, John,” she said joyously. “ I’ve got to 
learn to do things for myself now. Beside, they’re 
very, very precious.” 

She went singing up the stair to her room. She 
meant to try the new instruments on the new paper 
the first instant she was free from the sewing- 
machine, and her mother’s delay meant much to her. 
She could not resist taking off the wrapping papers 
and exulting in the implements of her chosen pro¬ 
fession, but she did not waste any time after that 
first glimpse. 

She ran down to the sewing-machine with a new 

44 


HILDA BUYS HER GLOVES 

liking for the prosaic work she found there. It not 
only lulled the awakening memory of her failure 
into oblivion,—it gave her a feeling of sharing the 
sordid realities of life with Page Carter and all the 
vast army of the employed. 

“ This strong coarse stuff that the Board insists 
on the poor dears having for their nightgowns isn’t 
so bad,” she said smiling to herself. “ It’s like the 
strong garment of brotherhood that shall clothe the 
world. . . She was rather proud of this 

fancy and she worked rapidly, humming as she 
sewed. She finished her portion of work just as 
the clock sounded the half hour; then she ran lightly 
up to her treasures. 

‘ 4 I’ll try a little sketch of a giiTs room, just to 
see what I can do,” she planned. “ I’ll do it after 

dinner and- Oh, there’s Mother now! I’ll 

simply have to hop! ” 

She raced through her dressing and w^as in the 
hall before John, announcing dinner, had reached 
the library where her mother was busy with letters 
and papers. She ran before him but halted in the 
doorway. Mrs. Hare was sitting with a letter in 
her hand, staring at it thoughtfully. 

“ Oh, it isn’t any bad news, is it? ” Hilda broke 
out impulsively. Something in her mother’s look 
disturbed her. 

Mrs. Hare turned, nodded to John in the back- 

45 



HILDA OF GREY. COT 


ground, and then as he disappeared, she raised her 
eyes to Hilda. 

“Not exactly bad news, my dear/’ she said. “ But 
it may take me away for a while. Cousin Alice 
Whildin has been very ill out in Detroit and she 
wants me to come out to help her. It seems she has 
never forgotten that fortnight she spent with us 
when she had neuralgia.” 

“ But you won’t go,” cried Hilda dismayed. 
“Away out there, and you hardly know her after all. 
I don’t see how she can ask it.” 

“ She doesn’t ask it,” explained Mrs. Hare 
gently. “ Her nurse writes that she talks con¬ 
stantly of the comfort she got with us, and suggests, 
merely suggests that if I can, I come for a short 
visit. Cousin Alice is in a very low nervous state, 
it seems, and much depends on her being cheered 
and diverted.” 

“ Then you’ll go,” declared Hilda. “ I know 
you will. You’re always doing just what people 
want you to.” 

Mrs. Hare laughed out gaily. “ Not always, it 
seems,” she retorted. “ How about that partner¬ 
ship? I didn’t respond too easily to that, did I? ” 
She added more seriously as they went toward the 
dining-room, “ I will write to Miss Miller for more 
exact details before I pack my bag, so we shan’t be 
parted for a while yet.” 


46 


HILDA BUYS HER GLOVES 

“ Thank goodness,” exclaimed Hilda. The 
glove counter rose before her again, “ Thank 
goodness/’ 


4? 


CHAPTER III 


WELL BEGUN IS HALF DONE 

“ How does it look? ” 

Hilda asked the question in mingled anxiety and 
hope. 

It was the next morning and she had brought her 
effort of the night before to show her mother before 
setting out for her first lesson from Mr. Dalton. 
In the shaft of sunshine that streamed across the 
breakfast-room, she made a pretty picture as she 
bent over the drawing board with her eyes agleam 
and her cheeks deepening to rose-color, bright 
golden lights playing on her soft brown hair. 

Mrs. Hare looked at the drawing critically, in 
spite of the love so plainly shown in her face. She 
was determined to be strictly impartial as to Hilda’s 
work,—to place herself in the position of a purchas¬ 
ing stranger, if possible. The little sketch of a 
small private sitting-room done in blue and white 
chintzes was evidently modeled on Hilda’s former 
bedroom suite at Uplands,—the color being 
changed from pink to blue. 

“ It looks very well to me, my dear,” she replied, 

48 


" WELL BEGUN IS HALF DONE " 


glad to be truthful and kind at the same time, 
“ That arrangement of the couch and desk is an 
improvement on ours. It appeals to me very 
strongly, but I suppose I shouldn’t dare to use it 
without a permit from you, now that you’re to be a 
business person.” 

The little joke had a delightful savor. Hilda 
laughed with pleasure and packed up her drawing 
to show her instructor. She felt that her day,—her 
important new day,—was well begun. Her mother’s 
verdict meant much to her. Since she had come 
home, only two days ago, she had begun to see her 
mother in a new light. Formerly she had felt id ride 
in her mother’s cleverness, her gowns and her noted 
entertainments, but two days’ intimate companion¬ 
ship had shown her another side of that reserved 
nature,—a side which the stress of war had brought 
out and the after-war problems were showing in 
clearer relief each day. 

After a gay farewell she glanced back at the 
graceful figure at the sewing-table with a sudden 
thrill of warm feeling. Mrs. Hare, in a white morn¬ 
ing-dress with her dark hair piled high and a single 
yellow rose at her belt, was certainly an attractive 
picture as she stooped over the pile of woolen gar¬ 
ments she was sorting for the Orphanage store¬ 
house. The sunny garden outside of the long 
windows framed her vivid head with light and color, 

49 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


and the yellow-and-white chintzes of the cheerful 
room made a charming setting for her lithe beauty. 
Hilda wondered that she had never before really 
seen how lovely her mother was. 

“ She’s perfectly stunning and she looks almost 
as young as I do,” she thought proudly as she hur¬ 
ried to the garage. She was to have the car for the 
morning with the understanding that she drive for 
her mother in the afternoon. “ I’ve been awfully 
blind not to see how wonderful she is. She seems 
more like a chum than a mother,—now that I’m 
really grown-up and going in for real things.” 

A great desire to please this newly discovered 
mother came strongly upon her. She determined 
to do her very best,—not only with Mr. Dalton but 
also at Grey Cot, where she knew that many op- 
portunities for service would be waiting one on the 
lookout for them. 

The remembrance of her evening’s work came to 
float her rising spirits still higher. She had not 
only made the drawing but she had gone to the sew¬ 
ing-machine while her mother was occupied with a 
caller and had finished the entire lot of garments, 
working under happy pressure and ending before 
the caller had left. The burnt jam was paid for 
and her score was clear. Her mother’s offer of the 
car for her first day of business completed her satis¬ 
faction. Altogether she had made good use of her 

So 



" WELL BEGUN IS HALF DONE " 


time since the decision of yesterday. “ If I can 
just go on like this,” she thought, hopefully. 

She felt she was beginning many new enterprises 
and she thought she was doing them very well. She 
brought the car to the curb in front of the quiet red¬ 
brick house with a swift precision that increased her 
satisfaction. It was easy to do things well when 
she was approving herself,—happiness gave her 
hand a surer touch, her eye a keener sight,—success 
made her succeed. 

“ I know I’ll have a perfectly fine morning,” she 
told herself as she mounted the steps and rang the 
bell. 

Her prophecy proved to be quite true. 

Mr. Dalton, in the big, sky-lit study at the back 
of the house, opened a mine of delight to her eager 
seeking. He showed her fabrics of various ages, 
explained weaves and textures with the precision of 
the connoisseur, noted the permanence of eastern 
dyes, and made her see, all in one little hour, the 
great difference between the modern clever imita¬ 
tion and the beautiful mvsterious colorful charm of 
the antique tapestries and leather-work. Hilda 
found it all inexpressibly delightful, and she liked 
Mr. Dalton better every minute she spent with him. 

“ It’s wonderful how clearly you make me see 
things,” she told him as he folded a lovely blue-and- 
pink-and-yellow Damascus drapery. “ You seem 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

to have been everywhere and seen everything worth 
while, too. It certainly is very, very kind of you to 
bother with me, whom you didn’t know the least 
scrap.” 

Mr. Dalton smiled and stroked his well-brushed 
beard. “ The fact that I used to play jack-stones 
and bat-out-and-catch with Jean’s mother when we 
were both youngsters may explain,” he replied. 
“You need instruction of the right sort, and you 
need it instantly,—after the manner of young crea¬ 
tures. I knew you could manage, with proper 
coaching. Don’t you think I would have been a 
callous brute to refuse? Most of my life has been 
spent acquiring knowledge. Surely it was time to 
give a bit of it out. I am very fond of Jean. 
You are Jean’s friend and future partner,—one of 
the necessary units to the whole of Jean’s happiness. 
That explains it clearly. You don’t need to be 
grateful, you see.” 

Hilda hesitated. She knew the matter had been 
arranged by Mrs. MacAllister with her mother’s 
consent, but she could not help a sense of encroach¬ 
ing on Mr. Dalton’s time. She did not know then 
that he was really a very wealthy man, and that his 
simple household in Barford Street was only one 
of many possessions in many parts of the world. 
She saw only the simple household, and in spite of 
the priceless treasures within it she was inclined to 

52 




" WELL BEGUN IS HALF DONE " 


be uneasy at the tax she was imposing on her 
teacher’s time. 

“ I wish I might do something some time in re¬ 
turn for your very great kindness,” she said, look¬ 
ing at him very seriously with her wide violet-grey 
eyes. “ I don’t know what it could be, but I’d love 
to show you how much I enjoy coming here. I’ve 
never spent such a morning in my life.” 

He smiled at her across the shining perfection of 
the Sheraton table. “ Wait till you’ve spent a 
month on these things,” he responded with a 
chuckle. “ Gratitude does not always survive habit. 
When you are more used to these tapestries and 
rugs they may bore you. Young girls don’t usually 
limit their delights to Persian patterns or Walloon 
weaves. I shan’t blame you, mind, if you find all 
this tiresome in the end. It’s not in nature to stick 
to finished fabrics while life is in the making.” 

Hilda laughed with pleasure, realizing his sympa¬ 
thetic mind. She suddenly felt very much at home 
with him. She bent forward to emphasize her 
point. “ Ah, but you forget that even a donkey 
will travel straight ahead when there’s a bunch of 
hay hanging just before his nose,” she returned 
gaily. “ That partnership is the bunch of hay in 
my case. If I should tire of these studies,—which 
I never, never shall—there’s always the hay dan¬ 
gling just an inch before my nose to lure me on.” 

53 


HILDA OF GREY [ COT 

They parted in great friendliness, with the pros¬ 
pect of another lesson on the morrow, and Hilda 
went off in high spirits, convinced of her prophetic 
feeling of the morning. She took time to swerve 
for a moment at Watson’s glove counter where she 
told Page Carter, between customers, of her new 
work. Page’s blush of delight in her friendship 
was reward enough for the effort spent, and Hilda 
fell more under the spell of her charm than she had 
on the previous day. She was determined to make 
some definite effort to change the glove counter for 
something more worthy of Page. More than ever, 
as she drove homeward, did she regret her hasty 
promise of secrecy. 

At luncheon she gave a full account of her hours 
with Mr. Dalton, an account which seemed to give 
her mother much pleasure, but she said nothing of 
her other hopes, recalling her pledge with more and 
more dissatisfaction. It was with elaborate care¬ 
lessness that she urged her mother to help her in the 
selection of her bridesmaid’s gloves for Betty 
Yarrow’s wedding. “We can stop at Watson’s on 
our way down-town,” she suggested with great cun¬ 
ning. She felt herself very underhand, but knew 
it could only be by such means she might help Page 
Carter. Mrs. Hare’s assent filled her with satisfac¬ 
tion. 

After she had dressed she gaily took her way 

54 


" WELL BEGUN IS HALF DONE " 


across the lawn to the garage. The breeze brought 
clouds of fragrance, and showers of rose-petals 
drifted on its warm breath. A brown thrasher 
poured out his flood of liquid melody from the 
thicket beyond the stable. She gave a little prance 
of sheer joy in life. Although she was past seven¬ 
teen, she was very much a little girl at times. 

“It’s perfectly jolly to be doing something real,” 
she told herself exuberantly. “ Little things come 
first, of course, but the big things are just ahead,” 
she gave a chuckle of remembrance, “ like the don¬ 
key’s hay. And there’s plenty of fun in the chase.” 

An exultant sense of achievement stirred her. 
“ Mother will be sure to notice Page,” she thought, 
as she ran the car out on the smooth drive toward 
the side door. “ Something good is sure to come of 
it.” 

But Mrs. Hare was absent and preoccupied, 
Page was doubly reserved and rather self-conscious 
and Plilda was so intent on playing a minor part 
that she overdid her restraint and hardly spoke a 
word. 

After the gloves were bought and they had left 
the counter, she saw that she had not carried off the 
affair as she had hoped. It was too late, however, to 
mend matters and she was forced to follow her 
mother away with the scant consolation of a back¬ 
ward friendly glance at Page. 

55 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


“ I made a perfect mess of that,” she told herself, 
much vexed at her lack of tact. “ I was right about 
being a donkey after all, I do believe.” 

Nevertheless, the afternoon, after this slight 
break, passed off very successfully. Mrs. Hare 
came out of the Orphanage with a brighter face and 
they drove about in growing enjoyment on many 
varied errands. Hilda was impressed with the 
dexterity and dispatch shown by her mother in 
handling each matter she turned her attention to, 
and she inwardly rejoiced in having such a capable 
ally in her new enterprise. 

They drove home through the slanting shadows, 
and they found tea waiting for them under the 
shady linden trees amid the green freshness of the 
side lawn. Jean MacAllister was lounging in one 
of the comfortable lawn-chairs, busy with Hilda’s 
knitting bag. She rose as they left the car and 
came across the velvetv turf. 

“ Thought I’d put in a stitch or two for you while 
I waited,” she explained quietly. “ Martha said 
you’d be here by five. I’ve news of a sort.” 

Hilda flung herself on the tree-seat and took a 
sandwich from the tray. “News?” she echoed. 
“ Nothing from Hal? Oh, of course not. You 
told me last night over the ’phone he was going to 
Warsaw. What in the world is it? Elizabeth isn’t 
backing out, is she? ” 


56 


" WELL BEGUN IS HALF DONE ” 


Jean grinned. “Take your time, my infant,” 
she drawled tolerantly. “ Three guesses if you 
choose. I’m in no hurry.” She spoke with her 
eyes on Mrs. Hare who had halted to receive a tele¬ 
gram from John, had hastily read it and now joined 
them, smiling at the last words. 

“ Oh, but I am in a hurry, and I want to hear it, 
if it isn’t a secret,” she said, taking a tinkling glass 
from the tray and sipping it as she stood. “ I hope 
it isn’t a lengthy story for I must run in at once. 
The telegraph office closes out here ridiculously 
early, you know.” 

Hilda started. “You haven’t had news, too?” 

she asked anxiously. “ Cousin Alice-” 

“ Is getting on nicely but they want me to come 
very soon. The Porters are going as far as Cleve¬ 
land in their private car and I am to wire them 
whether I will join them to-morrow night or wait 
till later to go on by myself,” explained her mother. 

“ They seem bent on my going, so-” 

“You will go with the Porters, of course,” cried 
Hilda, forgetting her grievance against the plan, 
now that it was a settled fact. “ You’ll be so much 
more comfortable that way.” 

Mrs. Hare laughed at her eagerness. “ You see, 
Jean, how business makes the heart callous,” she 
said. “ Last night she was all against this project, 
but now after one morning spent among her 

57 




HILDA OF GREY COT 


precious materials, she gives me up without a mur¬ 
mur. It almost decides me to refuse to go.” 

“ You’ll not be the only one she’ll have to do with¬ 
out, Mrs. Hare,” announced Jean. “ I’m off my¬ 
self to-morrow. Mother finds the course can be 
condensed by taking it on the spot, so I’m moving 
out to Cornwells this very night,—bag and baggage. 
That’s my news, infant.” 

The three looked at each other in astonishment. 
Hilda was the first to speak. “You always do the 
right thing, Jean; you’ll cram and have it over in no 
time,” she declared. “ I’m going to pitch in and 
study so hard I’ll be ready, too, when you come 
back. And I shan’t have time to miss anyone,—not 
very much,” she ended a little wistfully. 

Mrs. Hare hesitated. “ I had thought Jean 
might stop with you,” she said, “ but that is out of 
the question now. I shall have to think it over. 
You must not be left quite alone. . . .” 

Hilda sprang up with an outstretched hand. 
“ Oh, please don’t bother about me,” she cried. 
44 I’ll ask Miss Landis for the first week,—it’ll do 
her good to be out of town in this weather, and she 
said to-day that her vacation is to begin Saturday. 
She’ll come, I’m sure.” 

Mrs. Hare’s face lighted. “ The very thing,” she 
agreed with relief. “ I’ll ’phone over to the library 
at once, and if she can come, I’ll send my telegram. 

58 


" WELL BEGUN IS HALF DONE ” 


Good-bye, Jean, and good luck to the partnership,” 
and she shook hands warmly before she went to the 
house. 

Jean looked after her with much admiration. 
“ She certainly is a peach,” she said solemnly. 
“I’d cry for her, too, if I were sick in Detroit and 
hadn’t a mother of my own.” Then with another 
tone she asked, “ How’d you like Mr. Dalton? 
Isn’t he a wizard? ” 

Hilda agreed that he was more than that and 
told her of her happy morning in the red-brick 
house. “ I’m to go to-morrow,” she added. “ It’s 
perfectly wonderful how much I’ve learned already. 
I believe I’ll be ready for the partnership whenever 
it comes.” 

“ That’s the talk, my child,” approved Jean as 
she rose. “ Stick to those sentiments and keep 
your pennies in your paddy and we’ll make the 
rippingest firm in creation next fall. Now I’m off, 
for I’ve gobs to do before I fly. I’d ask you to run 
over with me but I know you haven’t time.” 

She was gone with a wave of the hand and Hilda 
sat clinking the ice in her empty glass. Jean’s 
words about her accounts recalled her bills of yester¬ 
day. She had not entered them in her book yet, 
and she got up briskly, full of the vigor of good pur¬ 
poses. 

“ I’ll go fix that book right away,” she thought. 

59 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

“ I’ll have to be very careful after this to put down 
every cent as I spend it. Jean mustn’t find me a 
penny out of the way when she comes home at the 
week-end.” 


V 

60 




CHAPTER IV 


THE HIGH STRAIGHT ROAD 

“ I wish I hadn’t promised Betty to go see her 
things the moment I got home,” she thought as she 
left Mr. Dalton’s the next day. “ When I wrote 
I didn’t dream about the partnership or Mother 
going away. Besides, I’m on a sort of probation 
and oughtn’t to spend time on mere fun,—that can 
come later.” 

She sighed as she thought of Betty’s trousseau, 
which would probably take hours to examine prop¬ 
erly. “ If I do go, I’ll cut it short, and I’ll make 
her promise not to breathe that I’m home. I don’t 
want any of the crowd to know. Jean didn’t tell 
anyone and Mother’s tea-party people won’t spread 
the news, I’m sure. It’s Mother’s last day at home, 
too. I really oughtn’t to go.” 

She thought of her useful, happy morning, spent 
in study, and she actually grudged the time that it 
would take to get across town to view Betty 
Yarrow’s wedding preparations. Until now she 
had been thrilled by the thought of Betty, the 

feather-brained mouse of their nursery days, marry- 

61 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

ing and having a great establishment and a real 
husband of her own. 

At luncheon she voiced her feelings. “ I believe 
I'll postpone running over to Betty’s,” she said with 
a rather serious air. “ I’m not so keen on that sort 
of thing just now. It doesn’t seem quite in line 
with my work and all that.” 

Mrs. Hare could not resist a crinkle of amuse¬ 
ment, but her voice was very kind as she replied. 
“ Don’t you think it might appear ungracious if you 
delayed? Betty has been waiting, you know, and 
you’ll have to explain your reason for not keeping 
your promise. Take the car and go directly we 
have finished lunch.” 

Hilda sighed. “ Well, if I must, I must, I sup¬ 
pose,” she agreed with resignation. 

But she told herself rather sadly, when she was 
in the car again and speeding toward the big Geor¬ 
gian mansion on the other side of the wide city, that 
even her mother had moments of feminine weakness. 
The tea-party and her interest in Betty’s entirely 
superfluous clothing proved that clearly. She 
loyally tried not to dwell on it, though it kept re¬ 
curring all through her visit to her friend. She felt 
a bit traitorous herself because she found the eager 
welcome from dear little Betty and the array of 
beautiful things rather more to her mind than she 

had expected. The boxes heaped on one small 

62 





BETTY AND HER ARRAY OF THINGS WERE MORE TO HER 
THAN SHE HAD EXPECTED 


















































































V 













THE HIGH STRAIGHT ROAD 

table alone were worth wasting an hour over. She 
had some difficulty in keeping within the bounds she 
had set for herself. 

Nevertheless, she had Betty’s promise of secrecy 
as to herself, and she had not inquired after the old 
crowd. When she was on the road again her new 
principles triumphed gloriously, and, home once 
more, she stopped on her way to her room to com¬ 
miserate her old friend’s state of mind. 

“ She’s just wrapped up in Lawrence and her 
trousseau,” she told her mother with a tinge of 
compassion. “ And she isn’t going to get over it 
for ages,—you know how she is,—what with the 
wedding and the three months’ trip and all that. 
It’s a pity that it all happens now when everyone 
ought to be doing real, unselfish work. The tips 
they’ll spend would feed I don’t know how many 
poor Armenians.” 

“ Then you do not consider Betty doing right in 
marrying the man she has loved ever since she was 
a wee tot? ” asked her mother, not looking up from 
her packing. “You think she is taking a useless 
selfish vacation? ” 

Hilda glowed with exalted devotion, but some¬ 
thing in her mother’s quiet manner made her hesi¬ 
tate and frown. “ I don’t know that I ought to say 
it,” she replied uncertainly. “ But it does seem to 
me that she is a sort of slacker to go off on a trip 

<33 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


just now. Think of how much good that money 
would do/’ she made a rapid mental calculation of 
the number of loaves of bread that might be bought 
from the tips alone. “ A whole month of traveling 
might mean a lot to the poor Armenians at this 
time/’ she ended soberly. 

Mrs. Hare looked keenly at her and then she 
laughed out, a merry ripple that quickly dismissed 
the subject. “ Well, we must make allowances for 
laxity, even among ourselves.” She rose as the 
chiming hall clock struck. “ But it’s time we were 
off, if we are to get my errands done and be 
back on time. I must see Martha for a moment 
and then I’ll be with you.” 

Hilda, having gotten the idea, could not dismiss 
the matter so lightly, however, and it bothered her 
as they drove about on their errands. In the 
wretched household where the young woman was 
bravely supporting her small family by her own ex¬ 
ertions; at the shop where a line of girls no older 
than Betty worked at hard coarse work, Hilda saw, 
or thought she saw, some very strong reasons why 
Betty and Lawrence should not waste money on 
mere wedding favors and trips. 

And as they drove into the glittering shops and 
luxurious hotels of the more prosperous business 
section, the contrast between the two sides of life 

smote her more sharply. While she waited for her 

64 


THE HIGH STRAIGHT ROAD 


mother at the curb of an exclusive woman’s club, 
she had some very hot thoughts on the subject. 

“ What a pity to spend so much on useless 
things! ” she exclaimed warmly as they started for 
home. “ I wonder why people will keep on doing 
it.” 

Mrs. Hare looked at her gravely. “ Are they 
useless? ” she asked quietly. “ It is so hard to be 
sure, is it not? ” 

Hilda felt a pang of disappointment, almost dis¬ 
illusionment. She w r ondered if her mother really 
meant what she said. The rush of traffic, however, 
took all her mind and the lateness of the hour added 
its distraction. In the hurry to get home and to be 
dressed on time, she lost sight of her perplexity for 
the moment. 

It came to her later, though, after she had 
welcomed the score or two of guests under the shady 
lindens and had done her best to aid her mother in 
the task of making a number of persons of widely 
differing tastes and positions spend an enjoyable 
hour together. 

Mrs. Hare was a charming hostess and her cor¬ 
dial interest in each group was so genuine that 
Hilda wondered at it. She moved about with a 
smile and a gracious word and, wherever she went, 
she created an atmosphere of pleasant sociability. 
She saw that fat old Mrs. Giddings of Giddings’ 

$5 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

Golden Globules had just the right amount of lime- 
juice in her tea, and she knew how Miss Todd of 
the Community House liked her toast spread. She 
saw that young Mr. Dalton of the Social League 
met the right people to be interested in his work, 
and she kept tired Miss Landis in the lounging chair 
bv the tea-table until there was some color in her 
narrow face. 

Hilda, hovering about, noted the energy bestowed 
on this, to her present mind, rather trivial perform¬ 
ance. “ After all, it’s only afternoon tea,” she told 
herself critically. “ It’s a waste. Surely, it is a 
waste.” 

She stood looking back at the pretty scene from 
the corner of the rose-garden where she waited for 
John with cakes. Yes, it certainly was a waste,— 
this chattering and eating under the linden trees on 
the pleasant lawn. “ It’s a wonder Mother can’t 
see it,” she thought, as he took the second plate and 
went toward the clustering chairs. “ Why doesn’t 
she see it? ” 

But it was plain her mother did not see it. Even 
when, after the people had gone, Hilda put the 
question, she did not seem to realize how Hilda felt 
about it. She was almost indifferent. 

“ My dear, you can’t make the world over in a 
day,” she replied, taking Hilda’s arm and falling 

into step as they walked across the lawn. “ We 

66 


THE HIGH STRAIGHT ROAD 


have to take it as we find it and try to turn it to our 
own purposes if we can. There does not seem to 
be any other way. You may not be able to force 
people to be good or generous, but sometimes you 
can coax them into it .’ 5 

Hilda flashed a look at her, stopping dead in sur¬ 
prise. “ Then it was to get that horrid Mrs. Fer- 
kin to join the Nursery Association that you asked 
her here to-day? ” she broke out. “ I heard her 
promising Miss Landis she’d join at once. She’d 
never have done it except to be on the Board with 
you.” 

Mrs. Hare’s smile died into a sweet gravity. 
“ That part cannot hurt us, can it? ” she inters 
rupted. “The poor children will be benefited, 
though. And Miss Landis will be less anxious. 
She has had but few large checks of late. Mrs. 
Ferkin has promised to take up the work that Mrs. 
Jameson’s death left on Miss Landis’ shoulders. 
She is very rich, my dear.” 

“ And as stingy as can be, too,” Hilda could not 
help retorting. “ But she’s so crazy about being- 
seen with the right people and having her name in 
the papers with them, that she’d give anything. 
She’s perfectly horrid, I think. I hate snobs and 
toadies ! ” 

“ I am not very fond of them,” replied Mrs. Hare 

calmly, “ but they have their uses.” 

6 ; 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

Hilda could say no more. Though she was 
rather ashamed of her outburst in contrast with her 
mother’s kind and serene manner, she could not sub¬ 
scribe to such doctrine. She went up to her room 
with a little disappointed lump in her throat, and 
got out her books with a flush of self-righteousness 
upon her smooth cheeks. 

“ I’d rather never get a cent than to get it that 
way,” she announced emphatically, as she oj)ened 
the volume on Wall Decoration. 

It was strange how many people were failing to 
come up to her new standard. Betty Yarrow in 
her selfish happiness, and even her own admired 
mother with that suspicious doctrine of using the 
foibles of the world to help the world to better con¬ 
ditions. It brought a puzzle into the delightful 
simplicity of her new life of devotion. 

“ I don’t like it,” she said emphatically as she 
settled down to her congenial task. “ I wish they’d 
all stick to plain, honest, straightforward work. 
There’s plenty of it, dear knows! ” 

A flitting memory of her mother in the tenements, 
in the factory and at the Nursery and Orphanage 
smote her uncomfortably. She ruffled the pages 
with a little sigh. Wall decoration did not lure her 
strongly at this moment. She laid down the book 
and went to her desk, getting out the two red books 

that held her jumbled accounts for the past six 

68 


THE HIGH STRAIGHT ROAD 


months. She meant to bring herself to the judg¬ 
ment bar, to be inexorable in order to make her 
future faultless. 

All the useless indulged hours of her careless past 
cried out at her from those two little red books. 
The amounts she had wasted on trifles appalled her. 
She groaned over sums so lightly flung away. 
“ I’ve wasted and wasted all my life,” she lamented. 
“ Oh, how could I have been so silly! ” 

At last she closed the books and stared out at the 
sunset sky where a pink cloud floated high above 
the tree-tops of the thicket. But she did not see the 
lavish color, she did not hear the lovely liquid call 
of the wood-thrush from the distant woods. Her 
mind was on real things,—tangible, marketable 
things like loaves and fishes. 

44 I’m going to make up for it,” she said firmly, 
as she snapped the desk shut to hide the confusion 
within. 44 1 shan’t spend anything on myself, and 
I’ll work with all my might. Mother will find 
when she comes back that I’ve made good.” 

She rose with a breath of satisfaction in the sim¬ 
plicity of her course. Whatever way others might 
choose, her path lay clear before her. It was a 
path of self-denial, of devotion, of absolute sin¬ 
cerity,—free from guile and constant to the end. 

44 It’s all plain sailing for me now,” she said tri¬ 
umphantly, and she ran down-stairs singing. Life 

69 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

was very delightful, after all, even though it held 
disillusions and partings. 

She found her mother in the library writing a list 
of commissions for her,—errands, messages and so 
on. There was a small pile of belated mail on the 
table and she seized on the three envelopes addressed 
to herself. She would fill in the moments until her 
mother was free. She dropped the first in her lap 
with a shrug,—it was an invitation for a supper 
party at the Country Club. The second, an invita¬ 
tion to a luncheon and on the same day, shared the 
same fate, but the third she read carefullv. It was 
an appeal for a subscription for the starving 
Armenians. 

Mrs. Hare looked up as she finished, and ex¬ 
plained the duties she was leaving to Hilda. Then 
she glanced at the mail. “Anything interesting? ” 
she asked. 

Hilda shook her head. “ Just a couple of parties 
that I shan’t go to,” she returned. “ I’m not 
going to begin to play about with the old set just 
yet. It takes too much time. I’ll see them all 
at Betty’s wedding and that’ll be quite soon 
enough.” 

“ Who’s giving them? ” her mother questioned. 

“ Mrs. Campion is giving the supper and the 
luncheon is at Marta’s. It seems silly to give parties 

for Bob Halket just because he’s home from college. 

70 



THE HIGH STRAIGHT ROAD 


They made enough fuss over him last year when 
he came from France to last a century.” 

“ Perhaps he’s going away,” suggested Mrs. 
Hare absently. “ It seems I heard something 
about some work he was thinking of taking up.” 

“ Well, I’m not going to his party, anyway,” 
laughed Hilda. “ He can come over here if he 
wants my society.” 

“ I thought you and Jean hadn’t told anybody 
your plans,” her mother reminded her. “No one 
knows you are home, I fancy. You see, the envel¬ 
opes are marked, 4 Please forward.’ ” 

Hilda laughed again. She went over and knelt 
down by her mother’s side. 44 All the better, my 
dear, to keep your little girl out of temptation while 
her lovely mother is away,” she said, rubbing her 
soft cheek against her mother’s hand. 44 1 won’t 
be apt to waste my allowance on nonsense if I steer 
clear of them all. It’s the only safe and sane thing 
for me to do.” 

Mrs. Hare smiled down on her tenderly and 
touched the bright hair with a gentle hand. 44 It is 
well to know one’s weakness,” she agreed. 44 I be¬ 
lieve I shall find you qualified for that partnership 
when I come back,—you’ve had your lesson in that 
burnt jam.” 

The words stuck in Hilda’s mind. After she had 
kissed her mother good-bye in the luxurious private 

h 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


car, after she had driven silently with a very silent 
John beside her all the long way home, after she 
had welcomed gentle little Miss Landis and made 
her at home in the pretty guest-room across the hall, 
the phrase repeated itself in her mind. 

“ Yes, I’ve had my lesson in that burnt jam,” she 
said, as she stood at her bedroom window looking 
out at the stars. “And I’m cured. I’ll stick to the 
safe and sane way and I simply won’t miss that 
partnership.” 

As she turned from the radiant night a happy 
thought struck her. “ I’ll get Page to come out 
here after Miss Landis goes,” she thought. 
“ Mother said she wouldn’t be back for at least a 
fortnight. Page can’t possibly refuse when I’m 
here all alone.” 

She chuckled at her own diplomacy. “Ah, Miss 
Page Carter, there’s more than one way of catching 
wild pigeons,” she said. “ We’ll see how you take 
that bait, my dear.” 


72 


CHAPTER V 


CLOUDS 


“ Gone to lunch. ,, 

The girl with the side-bobs glanced indifferently 
at Hilda and went on showing white kid gloves to 
an amiable old lady in striped silk. A dozen boxes 
stood on the counter and the girl was getting out 
more. She barely noticed Hilda’s second question, 
and it was only after she had deposited three more 
boxes on the counter that she found space for reply. 

“ Can’t say, I’m sure. She lunches out,” she 
vouchsafed in her most bored manner, and then 
turning to the old lady, she spoke more vivaciously. 
“ This is a vurry attractive style. That wide 
stitching’s all the rage for dressy wear.” 

Hilda stood irresolute. She had not had a word 
with Page since her mother’s departure nearly a 
week ago. Her studies, the commissions for her 
mother, the hours devoted to helping little Miss 
Landis enjoy her vacation had claimed every minute 
of her time, until this morning. 

She particularly wanted to see her new friend. 
Miss Landis had received in the morning mail a 

73 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


most attractive invitation to Long Island and 
Hilda meant to induce Page Carter to see her duty 
as substitute. She decided not to be balked. 

“ Ill wait at the entrance on Clinton Street/’ she 
thought, moving off slowly. “ She ought to be 
back soon. I can wait till one o’clock, if I rush 
afterward.” 

She knew she deserved the satisfaction of seeing 
Page at this moment. Had she not played her part 
to the extent of her abilities? She looked back on 
the cheerful effort of the last few days and the busy 
hours after she had gone to her room,—hours when 
she had written long, explicit letters to her mother 
in reply to the two cheerful telegrams from Detroit, 
when she had made careful notes on the morning’s 
lesson, or virtuously put her stocking-bag in order. 
She felt she deserved her reward in Page’s prompt 
acceptance of her proposed invitation. 

But though she waited most patiently by the 
Clinton Street entrance, no Page Carter appeared 
among the noontime throngs. Three, four, five 
minutes went by. The clock in the church tower 
across the square struck out the hour sonorously. 
She knew that she could wait no longer, and with an 
exclamation of annoyance, she gave up and started 
the car toward home. 

As she drove off through the thronging vehicles 
to the open roads and shady lanes that led to Grey 

74 


CLOUDS 


Cot, the fresh air and rapid motion robbed her dis* 
appointment of its first sting. Nevertheless, enough 
remained to make the prospect of the afternoon’s 
duties,—the last commissions left by her mother for 
to-day,—far from pleasing. 

“ I wish Miss Landis weren’t going right after 
lunch. She wanted to help me with those curtains 
for the Girls’ Club,” she thought. “ Now I’ll have 
to do it alone. I wonder where the Ardsmore is, 
and what sort of a person this Mrs. Bradford who 
is giving the curtains will turn out to be? Some 
stout person who wants to uplift the dear girls,” she 
ended, rather sarcastically. 

Ordinarily she would have enjoyed the work, but 
she was tired and out of sorts for some unknown 
reason. Perhaps she had been stretching upward 
too hard toward her new ideal of helpfulness and 
was suffering from a spiritual kink in the neck. At 
all events, she was far from her usual sunny self, 
and the effort she made to hide the fact from Miss 
Landis only made her the more dismal after that 
little lady had gone. 

“ I believe I’ll break my vow long enough for a 
few minutes with Alice Clark,” she thought as she 
drove away from the station. “ She may come over 
for to-night, and then I’ll have time to prepare 
Page. She’d have to know the day before, I sup¬ 
pose.” 


75 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


She wished that Jean were home. She felt it 
almost a personal matter that her chum had not 
returned for the week-end as expected, but had gone 
with a new acquaintance to see some famous garden 
at the other end of the state. She looked at the ad¬ 
dress on the slip with actual repugnance. “ Mrs. 
Bradford, The Ardsmore,” she read, and a picture 
of an elderly stout enthusiastic lady who was inter¬ 
ested in the uplift of the girls at the club, again 
rose before her. 

“ I’ll go ask Alice first,” she decided and turned 
the blue foursome toward the old neighborhood. 

She found Alice in her little sitting-room, which 
Hilda saw with new eyes,—the eyes of the interior 
decorator, and instantly decided her time was not 
lost. The warm greeting cheered her and, without 
waiting for an account of Alice’s doings or inquiring 
about her other old friends, she plunged into a 
recital of her new absorbing work. 

“ I wish you were doing some real work, Alice,” 
she ended enthusiastically. “ You’ll never know 
what you’re missing. There is nothing in the world 
like feeling that one is part of the new life-tide of 
the reconstructing forces of the world.” She felt 
she was going too far in quotation but she would 
not show her feeling. 

Alice laughed and shook her head. “ No, thank 
you, I can’t take on anything more just now,” she 

> 



CLOUDS 


replied. “ Mother threatens to send me to a Rest 
Cure if I go into anything else. Why didn’t you 
come to the luncheon yesterday, even if you did cut 
the supper? ” 

Hilda tried to hide her indifference to the trivial 
joys ot social life. “ I was busy, really,” she re¬ 
turned. “ I hadn’t a minute of time.” 

“ Well, you missed it,” Alice told her cheerfully. 
“ We had a wonderful time. Marta had only asked 
the old crowd from Miss Wilkinson’s, and these 
farewells are always so exciting-” 

“Farewells?” broke in Hilda. “Who’s going 
away? My note didn’t say anything about fare¬ 
wells.” 

Alice looked astonished. “ You don’t mean to 
tell me that you don’t know that Mary Elliot is 
going over to nurse for her uncle? ” she exclaimed. 
“ Why, everyone knows she’s been taking the course 
right along with her other studies. Dr. Siddons 
says she’s as clever at it as at her other college work. 
They left this morning.” 

Hilda felt a slight shock of disappointment under 
the flare of ready admiration that the news brought 
her. “ I’m awfully sorry to have missed it,” she 
said with keen regret. “ I’ve seen nobody since I 
came home,—I suppose Jean and Betty thought I 
knew,—and since Mother went away on Thursday 
I’ve hardly spoken to a soul except on business. 

77 



HILDA OF GREY COT 

I wish I had known. I’d surely have been 
there.” 

A sharp stab at the contrast between her own 
easy, pleasant work and the hard task of nursing 
in Dr. Elliot’s Hospital in the Carpathian Moun¬ 
tains, a hospital financed by Mary’s uncle and his 
friends, and which was one of the remaining benefits 
to stricken humanity from the late war, smote Hilda 
into silence. But a disturbing thought made her 
pause as she rose to go. 

“ Bob Halket’s on the tennis team as usual, I 
suppose? ” she asked casually. 

“ Bob Halket? ” echoed Alice in intense surprise. 
“ Bob? Oh, you simply must have heard-” 

“ I haven’t heard a single thing about the old 
crowd since I came back,” interrupted Hilda. 
“ What’s Bob going to do? He’s too young-” 

“ He’s twenty-three,” retorted Alice warmly. 
“ He isn’t a bit too young. He’s going on the same 
ship and the same unit as Dr. Elliot. He and Bert 
Halliwell are both going to spend their vacation 
with Dr. Elliot. Mrs. Halliwell gave an outfit for 
a new room,—a whole ward—in the hospital, and 
the Halkets have fitted up a small dispensary in the 
next village. Bob’s only first year medical but he’s 
a good worker, for all that.” 

Hilda gasped. Here was news indeed! Her 
pride in her old chum leaped up generously and then 

7 ^ 





CLOUDS 


came a flash of wounded affection. Bob had left 
and sent her no word. Bob had not even thought 
of her, it seemed. 

“ He might have let on that he was going,” she 
said with a clouded face. “ I don’t see why every¬ 
body was so terribly secret about it. Marta never 
hinted it was a farewell party. It’s strange nobody 
told me. They might have known I’d want to see 
Bob—and Mary—before they left.” 

Alice was rather sharp. “ Oh, as to that, you 
can’t complain,” she replied. “ You haven’t writ¬ 
ten to a soul for ages. You went off after Com¬ 
mencement with those new friends of yours and you 
haven’t chirped a note since you came home. These 
are other days from the old ones, my dear. You’ve 
got to let people know you’re alive if you don’t want 
to be considered a dead one.” 

Hilda’s wounded feelings gave way to common 
sense. 44 1 suppose it was my fault this time— 
partly,” she confessed. “ I’ve been wrapped up in 
other things, and since Mother went out to Cousin 
Alice’s—she’s quite ill as I said,—I’ve had more 
than ever to think of.” At the door, however, her 
sense of injury overwhelmed her again. “ Some¬ 
one might have told me, nevertheless,” she added 
crisply. “All of you knew they were going. All 
of you had the chance to say good-bye. Someone 
might have remembered me.” 

79 




HILDA OF GREY COT 

Alice flushed. “ That’s perfect nonsense,” she 
said. “ Mrs. Campion asked you to Bob’s supper. 
Marta asked you to the luncheon. If the invita¬ 
tions didn’t reach you, it’s not our fault. We 
weren’t even sure you were home till Betty told us 
at the luncheon. If you will make a hermit of your¬ 
self you shouldn’t blame other people for what you 
miss.” 

Hilda’s temper responded swiftly to the impa¬ 
tience in Alice’s tone, and, although she did not 
carry on the argument, she did not ask Alice to 
spend the night with her; she promptly said good¬ 
bye with a very stiff air. She went out of the en¬ 
trance-hall with her head held high. She had ex¬ 
pected better things of Alice Clark. She started 
the little foursome with an amateurish jerk that did 
not add to her content. 

“Alice is not what she used to be, that’s plain,” 
she told herself bitterlv as she drove off. “ I shan’t 
bother her again soon,—she’s too disappointing.” 

She glanced about her at the spacious luxurious 
houses with their spreading lawns and wide terraces, 
the correct servants at the back regions of these 
great houses, the stream of well-appointed motors 
on the freshly sprinkled roadway, the well-groomed 
people on the streets. She had grown up among 
these surroundings and the park and chimneys of 

Uplands showed over the nearest hill. All were 

So 


CLOUDS 


very familiar, but now all seemed part of a past 
existence. Alice’s news had shut her off in a place 
by herself. She felt decidedly more out of sorts as 
she drove through the warm sunshine. 

“ They might have told me,” she repeated again 
and again. 

She was really very tired, and self-pity is an easy 
emotion when one is tired. She felt that she had 
been decidedly neglected. The flavor had gone 
from life. She wished with all her heart that her 
mother were home. “ It’s just like the perversity 
of things that poor Cousin Alice should be taken ill 
at this time, when Mother has so many things to 
attend to and I am busy with my new work,” she 
thought dismally. “ Cousin Alice never sees any 
of us when she is well, and I don’t see why she 
needs Mother now,—she must have stacks of people 
who are about her every day.” 

She drove slowly over the smooth roadway, trying 
to find some pleasant harbor for her disturbed mind. 
It was remarkable how lonely life had seemed since 
her mother had left. Everything failed to give her 
comfort just now. Even her generous check to the 
Armenians seemed onlv a hole in her allowance. 
She determined to try again at the glove counter. 

Here again she met with failure. It was partly 
of her own making, but that did not help to soothe 

her. Page was busy with two customers who were 

81 



HILDA OF GREY COT 


bent on getting everything the counter could offer, 
Hilda told herself. She waited for ten minutes and 
then with a brief nod to the disappointed Page went 
back to the car and slammed on the power, regard¬ 
less of traffic regulations. 

“ I’ll get those curtains and have them up and 
be done with it,” she thought. “ It’s the last thing 
I’ll do for anybody this week. I’m sick of them 
all.” 

As she drove along the smell of the warm asphalt 
and the clang of the trolley gongs jarred on her, 
and the sight of the Saturday shopping crowds,— 
the hurried school children and the warm, tired 
mothers,—made her sigh again. 

She slowed the car as she entered the street and 
looked for the Ardsmore. It turned out to be a 
trim, grey-stone apartment house with striped awn¬ 
ings and gay window-boxes. Somehow its fresh, 
correct appearance did not please her. 

“ She’s sure to be tiresome but I won’t stop,” she 
determined. “ These charitable ladies talk too 
much. I shan’t stop a single minute.” 

She got out and went up the low, wide steps to 
the open cool vestibule. 


82 



CHAPTER VI 


ENTEll MRS. BRADFORD 

The moment that Hilda saw the light supple 
figure in pale grey coming out of the little elevator 
in the entrance-hall, she felt her dark mood slip 
from her. Somehow she knew it was Mrs. Brad¬ 
ford and she hardly waited for the clerk at the desk 
to confirm her. 

“ I have a message from Mrs. Hare,” she began, 
going eagerly forward. “ She is unable to meet 
you as she had planned. . . .” 

She did not need to choose her words, for Mrs. 
Bradford turned on her the friendliest eyes imag¬ 
inable and smiled enchantingly. Hilda felt such a 
warm rush of admiration that all her previous 
fatigue and foreboding vanished and she smiled back 
vividly. The mere sight of the donor of the cur¬ 
tains for the Girls’ Club was refreshing,—she was 
so very different from what she had expected. 

“ You are very good to come in your mother’s 
place,” replied Mrs. Bradford in a beautiful voice. 
“ I am sorry that such a serious matter has called 
her away. Will you come up and see the things? 

83 



HILDA OF GREY COT 


I was just on my way to the stores for some more 
material,—I find I have miscalculated. But you 
may take what I have and I can send the rest 
directly to the club.” 

Hilda followed her to the elevator, and she simply 
could not help looking at her with eyes that told how 
much she admired this unexpected person. She 
was well worth looking at and in spite of her 
modest, almost demure, air, it is possible that she 
knew it. She was of medium height, with dark 
soft hair, straight dark brows above a pair of long 
brown eyes that could flash into sudden brilliance 
when she smiled. She had slender flexible fingers 
which were quite as noticeable for their beauty as 
were her eyes or her long graceful throat. She 
wore a simple exquisite dress of palest grey with a 
hint of violet at the girdle and a grey hat and long 
loose veil. Altogether she was so charming that 
Hilda could not hide her delight in her. 

Mrs. Bradford, in her turn, looked at Hilda with 
evident satisfaction. If her first glance had been 
swift and searching it mellowed into such an 
approving look that Hilda felt soothed and 
flattered. 

The rooms were in accord with Mrs. Bradford 
and Hilda wished to prolong the interview. When 
the curtains had been shown and the deficiency ex¬ 
plained she made her eager offer. 

^84 



ENTER MRS . BRADFORD 


“ Let me take you down for the rest of it,” shs 
said. “ I haven’t anything to do until the curtains; 
are ready.” 

Mrs. Bradford accepted with an easy grace, 
She seemed very ready to be friendly. And when 
the needed material was bought, she insisted on 
going down to the club and helping put the curtains 
up, turning the duty into a real pleasure, and 
charming the few girls who were in the rooms quite 
as thoroughly as she had charmed Hilda. Alto¬ 
gether, she proved just what she had seemed,—an 
ideal companion. After gentle Miss Landis’ mild 
chatter, her bright interest and clever speeches 
seemed doubly sparkling to Hilda. 

It was wonderful how easily Hilda talked to her, 
pouring out all her hopes and plans, in response to 
her sympathetic questions. Mrs. Bradford, too, 
was talkative, though she did not deal in details. 
She gave Hilda to understand that she had just 
come up from Washington on some important busi¬ 
ness connected with the Community Welfare work, 
that she had been a w T idow for three vears, and that 
she was deeply interested in the charitable and phil¬ 
anthropic end of the welfare work. Hilda could 
see that she was earnest and sincere, and was much 
impressed by the mention of her new acquaintance’s 
many activities. 

“ I have so many meetings and committees that 

35 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

I hardly know how to manage to get about to 
them,” she confessed as they turned homeward after 
a lively farewell to the group of girls on the door¬ 
step of the club. “ Actually there are not enough 
hours in the day for me. I spend half my time 
on the street cars or in taxis.” 

Here was an opening which Hilda grabbed at. 
“Let me take you once in a while,” she urged. “ I 
have most of my afternoons now and I’d love to 
help.” 

Mrs. Bradford appeared to hesitate. “ If you 
really had,” she began, and checked herself with a 
gesture of regret. “ I should not think of imposing 
on you,” she ended in a tone that somehow left the 
impression that she had meant to make some pro¬ 
posal. 

Hilda was alight with pretty eagerness. “ In¬ 
deed, I should love to do whatever you’d let me,” 
she protested. “ Please let me take you about 
while you are in town.” As Mrs. Bradford showed 
no signs of relenting, she insisted, “ Mother is away, 
as I told you, and I am really rather dull without 
her.” 

Mrs. Bradford rippled charmingly. “ So you 
mean to take me in place of your mother,” she said 
merrily. “ Ah, that puts another face on the mat¬ 
ter ! I cannot refuse that plea. I must adopt you 

until she returns, I suppose, or be haunted in my 

86 


ENTER MRS . BRADFORD 

dreams by the memory of the lonely orphan. Well, 
so be it. I submit.” 

It was arranged that Hilda should call for her the 
next morning at eleven to take her to some distant 
district where she was to address two separate meet¬ 
ings of the Women’s Party League. They shook 
hands very cordially upon it and Hilda went home 
in good spirits. She decided not to stop for Page 
Carter as she had intended, but to send a note over 
to the small house by a messenger, asking her to be 
ready in the morning about twelve when she would 
call for her in the car. It seemed a good arrange¬ 
ment, as it gave her the morning for Mrs. Bradford 
and good works. 

“ She’s the sweetest person I ever met,” she 
thought ardently, as she dressed for her solitary 
dinner. “ I am positive she would never neglect a 
friend.” 

She had her dinner in the summer-house and ate 
it with relish as the sunset flamed behind the tree- 
tops of the woods beyond the barns. Everything 
had zest for her now. She did not feel lonely. 
She forgot Alice Clark’s snippiness. Page’s 
absence was easily borne. A letter from her mother 
added to her satisfaction. 

Mrs. Hare wrote a favorable account of the state 
of Mrs. Whildin, whose condition was rapidly im¬ 
proving; she gave a graphic picture of her daily 

87 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

routine in the sick-room and on the estate; she sent 
some directions as to her own committees and other 
public duties; and she ended by saying that a visitor 
would arrive at Grey Cot in the early part of the 
week. 

“ Jack is a dear boy and you will like him im¬ 
mensely,” she wrote. “ He is Cousin Alice’s 
nephew on the other side. He is only fifteen, 
though he is so tall he looks older. He is really 
quite fine at heart, and I know he will be a pleasant 
companion to you while I have to be away. He 
may stop with us a month or so. Tell Martha-” 

Hilda laid down the letter with a smile. “ That’s 
just like Mother,” she thought. “ He’s probably a 
terror. Mother always sees angels where others see 
only imps,—like those young monkeys at the Or¬ 
phanage. I suppose this Jack has completely 
fooled her.” She sat smiling absently up at the 
pink-and-violet sky, recalling her mother’s devotion 
to the seemingly hopeless cases in the Orphanage. 
“ She believes in them. And she certainlv can do 
more with them than anyone else. Those little 
demons will behave beautifully for her though they 
set the matrons wild.” 

When she broke the news she saw at once that 
Martha evidently had no theories about fifteen-year- 
olds of the masculine sort,—that is, no theories that 

gave her satisfaction. She appeared to look on the 

88 



ENTER MRS . BRADFORD 


visitation as a calamity. She said nothing, hut her 
back as she went to her duties spoke volumes. 
Hilda looked after her with sympathetic eyes. 

“ Good old Martha, she’s worrying already,” she 
thought kindly. “ She doesn’t realize that is just 
the way to make trouble. I’ll have to be extra nice 
to him, I suppose, to make up for it. I believe I 
will try Mother’s plan. I’ll pretend he’s an angel, 
—he must be a terror if Mother has to apologize for 
him.” 

Her mind was in a flutter of benevolence as she 
went indoors and she was so intent on her thoughts 
that she did not see John at the side-porch. He 
held a small note in his hand, and his face was 
slightly perturbed. He had an apologetic man¬ 
ner. 

“ I found this on the gate-box, Miss Hilda,” he 
explained. “ I think somebody must a-left it when 
we was all busy. Martha had to go to the store, 
and I was a-cleaning those blackberry bushes-” 

Hilda broke in on his explanation as she saw the 
writing on the note. 44 It’s all right, John, I’m 
sure,” she replied hastily, and she ran into the house 
with aHutter of pleasure at her heart. It was Mary 
Elliot’s writing. 

“ They didn’t forget me, after all,” she said joy¬ 
fully, and she tore open the note and read eagerly, 

her cheeks flushing and her eyes shining. 

89 



HILDA OF GREY COT 


“ Dear Hilda,” Mary’s side of the sheet said, “ I 
didn’t want to go without saying good-bye. We 
have only a moment, as we’re on our way now, and 
Bob insisted that we come around by your house. 
Nobody is home so we’ll leave our good-bye on the 
gate-post. Write. Yours as ever, Mary.” 

On the opposite sheet Bob had scrawled: “ So 
long, old girl, we’ll see you later. Tried to get you 
on the ’phone after I heard on Friday that you were 
home, but couldn’t make it. Be a good child, 
Hilda, and write. Mother has the address. Your 
pal, Bob.” 

It was the finishing touch to her happy after¬ 
noon. She was almost glad that she had missed the 
note earlier in the day, since its coming at the twi¬ 
light hour was so pleasant an ending to her varied 
day. She decided not to send the note to Page 
but to stop on her way out the next morning. Her 
promise not to let anyone know of Page’s existence 
was to be kept absolutely. She went singing up to 
her room, and after writing a short reply to her 
mother’s letter, she took up a new book and soon 
lost herself in its interesting pages. The house was 
very still when she finally laid it down and listened 
for the chimes of the hall clock. 

“ Half-past twelve!” she exclaimed in surprise. 
“ I had no idea it was so late. The time has fairly 
raced to-night.” 


90 


ENTER MRS . BRADFORD 

She awoke to a brilliant new day, with the wind 
blowing a freshening gale and the sky blue and 
crisp as any October sky. It was one of those 
lapses that remind one of the frosts and snows of 
other seasons. She sprang out of bed with all her 
blood dancing. The roses were flinging their fad¬ 
ing petals across the sunny emerald of the lawn and 
bird songs flooded the clear air. The distant hills 
were very blue against the crisp horizon. 

Everything went well with her again. When she 
came out to the drive she found that John had 
washed the car and its fresh blue-and-cream har¬ 
monized well with the shining morning. She gave 
John one of the dollars from her inner pocket and 
drove off in high good spirits. 

The only disappointment was again in regard to 
Page. She had gone out for the day, Hilda was 
told by a thin, worried-looking woman who an¬ 
swered her ring. She did not expect to be back be¬ 
fore evening and she had not said where she was 
going. Hilda consoled herself with the hope that 
she might find her home again before it would be 
too late to persuade her to come to Grey Cot. 
“ Perhaps she’ll be in before dinner after all,” she 
thought hopefully. “ I’ll run over and see, any¬ 
way. Things often turn out differently than you 
expect.” 

Mrs. Bradford in clinging black was quite as 

9i 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

charming as she had been yesterday in gray, and 
Hilda felt a thrill of pride in being the chosen es¬ 
cort of this lovely woman. At the hall where the 
first brief speech was made she found reason for 
her admiration. The speech was clear and rational 
and its effect on the audience was most gratifying. 
She heartily approved of the way the women 
crowded about the speaker with congratulations 
and invitations for the future. It was plain that 
Hilda was not alone in her feeling for the gifted 
Mrs. Bradford. 

She insisted that they have luncheon together in 
a near-by inn and after that they drove to the sec¬ 
ond meeting. Mrs. Bradford laughingly said 
Hilda would not miss the regular church service 
since she was hearing so many sermons from her. 
It was on the way home that Hilda spoke of some¬ 
thing she had not expected to mention, but the suc¬ 
cess of Mrs. Bradford’s meeting had stirred her to 
a desire to offer some rarer bit of information than 
her own hopes and plans. 

44 Mr. Dalton has such wonderful tapestries in 
his house,” she said, as she swung the car toward 
the Ardsmore. 44 1 believe he would be glad to let 
you see them, if you care to. You seem to know 
so much about,—well, everything, that I thought 
you’d like them. He only shows them to a few 

friends, or people who understand tapestries.” 

92 


ENTER MRS . BRADFORD 


Mrs. Bradford’s reply paused for the tiniest frac¬ 
tion of a second. “ I’d love it,” she said simply. 
“ I’ve seen some fine tapestries and you may be sure 
the courtesy would not be wasted. In the mean¬ 
while, I want to ask you something very impor¬ 
tant.” 

Hilda slowed to attention and looked at her 
eagerly. She could not guess what was coming. 

“ I’m going to take an apartment out in Hamp¬ 
ton Community Row,” Mrs. Bradford went on. 
“ It’s the only way to see whether they are really 
as practical and comfortable as is claimed. So 
many of these places look all right, but are hope¬ 
less to live in. I shall make my experiment in good 
faith, and if I prove that the Hampton is a model 
apartment for working people, I shall have gained 
a triumph for our Committee. Will you help me? ” 
Hilda was confused by the unexpectedness of 
the request. “ I’d love to,” she stammered. 
“What—how can I help? ” 

“ By taking me over there to-morrow to look the 
place over,” replied Mrs. Bradford quickly. 
“ After we have seen it, I’ll tell you more. It’s a 
bargain that we go to-morrow, is it? ” 

“Indeed it is!” cried Hilda delighted. “I’ll 
come any time after two. My lesson takes the 
morning, you know. Will that suit? ” 

“ Perfectly,” responded Mrs. Bradford, as the 

93 



HILDA OF GREY COT 

car slowed to stop before the Ardsmore. “ At two- 
thirty, then. Good-bye, and many thanks. I shall 
have to report your helpfulness to the Committee, 
my dear.” 

Hilda drove off in happy anticipation. “ I won¬ 
der what she will ask me to do? ” she thought. “ It 
will be something' pleasant, I am sure.” 

She swerved to Page’s suburb on the way home 
but the woman, now rocking on the shabby porch, 
shook her head before she put the question and she 
had to drive off again alone. But she was far from 
lonely. Memories of her delightful day brought a 
smile to her lips as she turned in the familiar drive 
to Grey Cot. 

John met her at the entrance to the garage but 
his face did not reflect her smile. 

“ He’s in the library, Miss Hilda,” he announced, 
soberly. 

Hilda gave a pleased start. “Who’s in the li¬ 
brary, John?” she asked, wondering which of the 
boys it might be. She hoped it might be Jim Yar¬ 
row. 

“ The young gentleman from the west, Miss 
Hilda,—Mr. Jack Hastings,” replied the worthy 
John in the same monotonous tone. “ He’s been 
walking about and now he’s gone to write letters, I 
believe.” 


94 


CHAPTER VII 


FIRST IMPRESSIONS 

Hilda went toward the library with her mind in 
a tumult. John’s face had not been reassuring. 

“ He’s probably worse than I expected,” she 
thought swiftly. “ But I must behave as though I 
adored him on sight,—that will bring him down a 
bit.” 

She stepped into the room with a bright, welcom¬ 
ing smile and stretched out a hospitable hand to the 
tall boy who was rising quickly from the desk-chair. 

“ It’s awfully nice you could get here so soon,” 
she said in her friendliest voice. “ Mother wrote, 

of course, but I didn’t know just when you’d ar- 

• >> 
rive. 

He bowed quite ceremoniously and held out a 
rather grimy hand. “ I hope you will excuse my 
gloves,” he said gravely. “ I didn’t stop to wash 
at the station.” 

He was so different from her fancied picture of 
him that for a moment she had no word and could 
only shake hands with him, in spite of the grime. 
He was about her own height and had the same 

95 


HILDA OF GREZ COT 

tipped-up nose but there the likeness ended; for he 
was dark and sedate in movement; his queer light 
eyes looked into her own violet-grey ones with a 
serious level gaze: his voice was low and slow,— 
altogether he was the complete reverse of her im¬ 
aginary portrait. Yet she could not give up her 
impression of his real character. 

“ Didn’t John show you to your room? ” she 
asked, recovering almost instantly. “ How forlorn, 
when you must be aching to wash off the dust. 
Come along and I’ll show you where you are to 
bunk.” 

The heartiness of his grip pleased her. She liked 
people who shook hands like that. She liked, too, 
the friendly seriousness of his queer light eyes. 
She could quite understand how her mother could 
have fallen under the spell of his charm. She had 
to brace herself not to make the same mistake. 

After she had left him in the pretty airy room on 
the third floor with its three windows opening on 
the lovely summer world of garden and hillside, she 
went down-stairs smiling. She meant to try to find 
out what John’s gloomy expression meant. 

It was Martha who enlightened her rather un¬ 
consciously, it seemed. For, in answer to Hilda’s 
questions as to when the guest had arrived and why 
he had not been shown at once to his room, Martha 

replied curtly: “ Indeed, and John did wish to 

96 


FIRST IMPRESSIONS 


show him up-stairs, but the young gentleman per- 
ferred to wait until you came back. He said he 
had rather meet his hostess first,—she mightn’t take 
to him kindly, in which case, he said, he wouldn’t 
trouble us. He asked John to show him the near¬ 
est pond and he’s been over to that pool of Mullen’s 
ever since he came at three o’clock. ’Tisn’t any 
fault of John’s that he wasn’t made quite comfort¬ 
able here, Miss Hilda, for John’s done his best for 
him,—that he has.” 

Hilda was somewhat concerned at Martha’s fore¬ 
boding air. It was plain that her new cousin had 
not managed to impress Martha in his favor, in 
spite of his winning manner. Her secret convic¬ 
tions as to his real character returned with force, 
but she felt she was quite equal to dealing with a 
mere boy. She met Jack in the dining-room with 
a steady smile. 

“ I hear you have been exploring,” she said as 
they seated themselves at the table. “ Did you 
find what you wanted at Mullen’s?” 

He flashed a surprised look at her that added to 
her satisfaction. “ Plow did you know what I was 
after? ” he countered. 

Of course, she did not know but she saw that she 
had produced an effect and went on gaily. You 
had a couple of hours there, didn’t you? You 
must have made good use of your time.” 

97 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


He was silent as John handed the plates but 
after he had gone out he spoke earnestly, looking 
at Hilda with his level gaze. “ I don’t exactly 
know what you mean, Cousin Hilda,” he said 
soberly. “ I just went over there to j)ass the time. 
Those snakes I got were harmless and they’re not 
near the house, anyway,—they’re in the furthest 
stable in an old tin can. I only brought them 
along in case I had to go on to Williams’ to-mor¬ 
row,—I was to move on if we didn’t hit it off, you 
know. Of course, if you don’t want me to keep 
them, I’ll let them out-” 

He was on his feet before Hilda could protest. 
He came back to the table with a rather crestfallen 
air, though he agreed readily enough that another 
time would do as well for attending to the captives. 
“ Bert Fisher wrote me he’d got a dandy assort¬ 
ment of harmless snakes and I thought I’d start one 
of my own,” he remarked as he took up his fork. 
“ I didn’t intend to bother anyone, though.” 

He was very quiet for the rest of the meal, and 
Hilda hardly knew whether he was secretly resent¬ 
ing her start of dismay at the mention of the snakes, 
or whether he was merely planning some excuse to 
move on to the more congenial Williams’, whose 
tastes in reptiles w r ere so greatly to his liking. 
After the dessert had been disposed of, he looked 

over at her with a relieved expression. 

98 



FIRST IMPRESSIONS 

“Well, I got through all right, didn’t I?” he 
asked seriously. 

“ Through what? ” asked Hilda, wondering 
whether he meant the frozen pudding or the two 
slices of cake with which the serious John had 
served him. 

“ The food test,” he replied gravely. “I don’t 
think I made a break but perhaps you noticed 
something that got past me. Did you? ” 

Hilda could not help laughing at his concerned 
face. She could hardly believe him in earnest. 
“You behaved like an ordinary Christian at table, 
if that is what you mean,” she replied lightly. 
“ You didn’t swallow your knife or inhale the soup. 
Why do you ask?” 

He looked at her oddly. “ Aunt Alice says that 
a fellow can be spotted by the way he feeds, and I 
didn’t want you to think she hadn’t brought me up 
properly,” he returned. “ Aunt Alice is all right, 
you know.” 

“ You haven’t disgraced her so far,” said Hilda, 
trying not to weaken in her judgment of him. 
This loyalty to the absent was very winning, and 
she threw a stronger emphasis on the last two words 
than she might have otherwise. Then, to make 
up for her implied distrust, she nodded brightly at 
him over the rose-bowl of the centerpiece and 
added, “ Shall we go into the garden? I’ve some 

99 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

of those Bible puzzles out there in the summer¬ 
house that may be new to you. And it will be light 
for an hour yet.” 

He rose as she did, but as he followed her toward 
the door, he halted suddenly. 44 1 guess I’d better 
go see about those snakes,” he said. 44 That John 
of yours wasn’t sure that the cook would like me 
having them on the place. I’ll have to attend to it, 
and then I’ll be with you.” 

Hilda paused to watch his slim figure speeding 
across the lawn toward the stables. John, who had 
come in to remove the dessert plates, looked after 
him also. His face was stem and forbidding. He 
hurriedly put the last plate on the tray. 44 I’d 
better be off to see that no harm’s done,” he said 
grimly, as he went out. 

Hilda laughed to herself as she, too, went out of 
doors. She took her way to the summer-house, 
thinking of John’s grim manner. 44 He won’t fool 
John so easily as he did Mother,” she thought. 
44 John is made of stiffer stuff. A few soft words 
won’t win him over.” 

She felt so sure of John’s opinion that she could 
hardly believe her eyes when, about fifteen minutes 
later, she saw the two come out of the second stable, 
one carrying a tin bucket and the other a small roll 
of wire-netting and both talking earnestly together, 
like the best of friends in the world. 


ioo 


FIRST IMPRESSIONS 


They halted at the kitchen door, and Martha’s 
solid form appeared in the frame of the threshold. 
Her face wore a rather forbidding look and she 
spoke with emphasis. Jack answered, explaining 
and exhibiting the contents of the bucket, while 
John stood looking approval. In a minute or so 
Martha’s expression changed. She nodded and 
disappeared, returning in a second with something 
that she gave to Jack, with a nod and a smile; and 
then she stood watching with interest the two as 
they went back to the stable again. 

“ He’s fooled them both already,” thought 
Hilda, wondering greatly. “He certainly knows 
how to make people do as he pleases. I suppose 
it will be my turn next,” she added with a look that 
showed how far that time would be. 

s' 

Jack came, whistling softly. His face shone 
with satisfaction. “ We’ve got ’em fixed,” he an¬ 
nounced casually. “ John got some fine screening 
and Martha gave me some meat-scraps and we put 
them in the old tin tub. They’ll be safe and sound 
now. What’s the name of that Land of Canaan 
puzzle you’re doing? I bet I’ve seen it before. 
These others are new ones, though. Do you mind 
if I take the other side of the table? ” 

Hilda stuck to her program. She was more than 
friendly, and the hour passed quickly. When 
twilight dropped softly from the darkening skies 

IOI 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


and the small sections of the puzzles could no longer 
be seen, they talked. Jack expanded wonderfully 
in the dim witchery of the dying sunset and the 
faint young moonlight. He told of his life in the 
middle-western town with his easy-going Aunt 
Alice, and of the schools and camps he had known. 
His warm admiration for his newly introduced 
relative from Grey Cot was very sincere. 

“ Aunt Cvnthia has them all skinned a mile— 
«/ 

except Aunt Alice, who’s very different, you 
know,” he amended loyally. “ Aunt Cynthia’s 
got plenty of grit and she’s a regular picture to 
look at. That’s the kind I’m going to marry, when 
I get around to that sort of thing. She’s lots of 
fun to be with, and yet you can’t bluff her off like 
some women. She sees right through you.” 

Hilda smiled in the darkness. She thought, 
“ Oh, does she indeed? I don’t know about that, 
Master Jackv.” Aloud she said in as serious a 
voice as possible, “ Perhaps you won’t be able to 
find anyone just like her then. Don’t count too 
much on it, or you mightn’t care about marrying 
when you come to the proper age.” 

He wagged his head very positively. <£ I shall 
marry when I’m nineteen and I’m going to have a 
good big family,” he announced firmly. “ I’ll 
pitch into those boys when the}-’re up to their tricks, 

too. Believe me, they shan’t fool me a little bit. 

102 


FIRST IMPRESSIONS 


I’ll see that they get what’s coming to them. I’ll 
whack them every night on principle, like old Mr. 
Brown used to do to Uncle Ned.” 

“ How about the girls? ” asked Hilda with a 
ripple. “ Shall you treat them to the same 
medicine?” 

44 Oh, no indeed,” he replied magnanimously. 
44 Girls are pretty good, you know. They giggle 
and are silly, but they’re not like boys. My girls 
will have a dandy time. But the boys,—well, I 
know ’em,—that’s all. And I’ll see that they get 
what’s coming to them.” 

Hilda was about to reply when a horn honked 
insistently just outside the garden palings and the 
glare of electric lamps swept across the shrubberies. 
A voice that Hilda knew well called cheerfully: 

44 Anybody at home in there in the dug-out? ” 

Hilda sprang up eagerly, calling out a gay reply. 
She motioned to Jack. 44 Come along. It’s Janey 
Sloan and her cousin Leslie Masters,—he’s lots of 
fun and she’s just the sort you’ll like,” she ex¬ 
plained hastily as they went toward the drive. At 
the same moment she was thinking that she would 
get Leslie to take charge of Jack for the tennis 
matches at the club. She knew she could trust 
Leslie to see that her cousin walked the straight 
and narrow path which she suspected he was in the 

habit of roaming from at any good opportunity. 

103 



HILDA OF GREY COT 


Leslie brought the car to a halt just inside the 
gate and Janey leaned eagerly forward as Hilda, 
followed by Jack, came up. She was wrapped in 
a light cloak and her bright hair was blowing out 
in little curls all about her forehead. Her pink 
lips were parted in a very winning smile and she 
held out a slim hand of greeting. 

“What possessed you to hide away like this?” 
she exclaimed. “ We never knew you were within 
reach till Friday night at the supper, and we’ve 
been trying to get over every single minute since. 
I really didn’t quite know where you people had 
moved, either. I had to ’phone over to Uplands to 
that toplofty Mrs. Gryce to find your exact ad¬ 
dress. It’s awfully good to see you again.” 

Her tumbling words were a matter of course to 
Hilda,—everyone who knew Janey knew that she 
bubbled incessantly; but Jack appeared to regard 
her as a sort of miracle. He scrutinized her gravely, 
hardly taking his eyes off her the whole time the 
pair stayed,—which was not long,—and though he 
responded politely to Leslie’s few sentences about 
the tennis courts at the club, he seemed more than 
content to subside into the background while the 
others kept up a lively fire of questions and answers 
relating to all that Hilda had missed since her vaca¬ 
tion began. 

Leslie had an invitation for Hilda for the 

104 




FIRST IMPRESSIONS 

monthly dance, in which he included Jack with 
heroic resignation. 44 I’ve got a fellow from Camp 
Dix for Janey,” he said with a laugh. 44 He’ll have 
leave for that day and we’re going to sport him and 
his uniform around quite a bit. You’ll have to cut 
your other engagements, Hilda, and help me 
chaperone Janey and him.” Remembering Jack, 
he added hastily, 44 And your cousin, of course.” 

44 Mother’s going to have all the crowd out for 
the Field Day, and you’re both to come, and we’ll 
have luncheon served right in the machines,—Bax¬ 
ters serve the sweetest luncheons now on the field, 
—and we’re to go on to Aunt Hannah Morton’s 
for supper,” babbled Janey, hanging over the door 
and beaming on Jack and Hilda impartially. 
44 Don’t say you’ve anything else for that day, for 
you simply can’t have,—I asked everybody and 
they all said they hadn’t seen or talked with you 
yet. So we’re first, and we won’t let you off.” 

As an afterthought she flung an extra smile at 
the serious Jack. 44 I’ve got just the girl you’d like, 
Mr. Hastings, so you positively can’t refuse.” 

Hilda laughed at the assumption of Jack’s ma¬ 
ture age, but she did not enlighten the dimpling 
Janey. If Jack, in the faint moon-and-lamp glow 
looked like a real young man to her instead of the 
fifteen-year-old boy that he was, it would do no 

harm to let the illusion pass. The first daylight 

105 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


meeting would show the error. Moreover, she was 
much more occupied with the fact that Leslie’s 
plans for the dance were for a grouping which was 
not greatly to her mind. 

She hardly heard Jack’s prompt protestation that 
he didn’t want any particular girl set aside for him. 
She said good-bye with gaiety but there was an un¬ 
dercurrent to her thoughts that came to the surface 
as the car swung the curve out into the faint moon¬ 
light. She spoke absently, barely above her breath. 

“ Well, if Leslie Masters thinks I’m going to 
spend quite all my time playing great-grandmother 
to Janey and her soldier, he’s mistaken,” she mur¬ 
mured. “ Mrs. Sloan’s chaperoning us anyway— 
and I’ve known Leslie forever—it isn’t exciting 
to-” 

“ Cousin Hilda, what sort of clothes do they wear 
at these dances?” Jack broke in on her. He evi¬ 
dently had not noticed her muttered words. “ Are 
they strong on style, or just comfortable? ” 

Hilda came slowly out of her preoccupation. 
“ The usual monthly dances are very informal, dur¬ 
ing the warm weather,” she replied rather absently. 
“ But this one is, as you heard, for the men who 
have come over from England for the tennis 
matches. It will be the most elaborate thing of the 
season, I suppose.” 

Something in his look made her add, tolerantly, 

106 



FIRST IMPRESSIONS 

“ But you won’t have to bother. Everyone will 
know you are too young to care about formal 
clothes. You can wear anything you choose, 
really.” 

His silence meant nothing to her. Jack’s clothes 
were a very small speck on the horizon. The cloud 
that was looming up large was the fact that her 
prettiest evening frock needed a whole panel of 
filmy silver-embroidered chiffon,—the sea air hav¬ 
ing tarnished it badly that last night on the yacht. 
Silver-embroidered chiffon is not a cheap article. 

The time did not go so happily after this. Both 
seemed inclined to silence and lapsed into deep 
thought. It was a relief, at nine-thirty, to say 
kindly, “You have had a tiresome trip, Jack, and 
I’m sure you want to go to bed. I’m going in my¬ 
self and see that everything is ready for you.” 

Jack agreed cheerfully enough. “ I generally hit 
the sheets about this time if I’m not studying or 
something,” he replied, and, after her brief inspec¬ 
tion of his room was ended, he joined her on the 
landing where he shook hands with some formality. 

After he had gone up and Hilda was in her own 
room at her desk, she could hear him moving about 
for a long while, and she might have wondered at 
his wakefulness if she had not been thinking hard 
about her own affairs. The memoranda of her ex¬ 
penses for the past few days was not easy reading. 

107 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


The books and materials, with the Armenian check, 
made a large hole in her allowance. 

“ I can’t bother with it now, though,” she said, 
as she snapped the lid on the troublesome accounts. 
“ I’ll wait till to-morrow when I’m in better trim. 
I haven’t put down some other little things, like 
car fare and lunch down-town, and I’ll try to re¬ 
member them by that time. I wonder if I can get 
anything to match my frock at Watson’s—if Leslie 
expects me to spend the entire time with him, just 
so Janey can enjoy her soldier—well, there’s such 
a thing as being too unselfish—I shall simply 
leave old Leslie to brood over his pets and I’ll 
have a good time, too. Betty and Jim will be 
there-” 

She stood looking out at the setting moon. The 
slender crescent hung above the cupola of the sec¬ 
ond stable, and the dark silhouette of the frame 
building where the harmless snakes had found 
their home, reminded her of her guest. Jack’s con¬ 
cern about his clothes for the dance had made no 
impression on her, but his views as to the training 
of his children were too original to be forgotten. 

4 4 He seems to be hard on boys,” she thought, 
yawning slightly. 44 He knows what they are, I 
guess. He judges others by himself. Well, he’s a 
nice enough boy on the outside, and he’s going to 

be plenty of fun; but I’m not going to join the 

10 $ 




FIRST IMPRESSIONS 


ranks of his admirers just yet. I’ll wait and see. 
Being responsible for him, I’ll simply have to be 
careful not to take too much on trust. Ill wait 
and see.” 


109 


CHAPTER VIII 


HILDA GETS HER FIRST COMMISSION 


Tap, tap, tap! 

It was Martha’s summons on the door. With a 
delicious yawn Hilda aroused herself to the de¬ 
mands of a new day. 

“ Monday, and I’m to meet Mrs. Bradford at 
two-thirty,” she thought with a pleasant thrill of 
expectation. As an afterthought she remembered 
Jack. “ I shan’t be alone for breakfast, either,” 
she added happily. 

It was still brilliantly clear, although the air 
which stirred the net curtains at the windows was 
noticeably warmer than Sunday’s cool breeze. She 
dressed quickly, humming the newest song. The 
future was filled with pleasant duties. 

She intended to storm Page Carter at the closing 
hour at Watson’s and carry her off by force to Grey 
Cot (she had completely forgotten about her after 
Jack’s arrival) ; she had some interesting questions 
to put to Mr. Dalton as to color schemes; Jack, al¬ 
though partly disposed of to Leslie Masters for the 

tennis events, was still a responsibility. Altogether 

no 


HER FIRST COMMISSION 


she was a very busy person, not counting the de¬ 
lightful afternoon engagement with the fascinating 
Mrs. Bradford, whose charities covered a multitude 
of charms. 

As she went down the hall she thought she heard 
the mewing of a cat, but she paid no attention to it, 
—cats being excluded from Grey Cot because of 
Mrs. Hare’s aversion to them. Her whole mind 
was on the plans for the day. 

Jack was in the breakfast-room and she greeted 
him gaily. “What a gorgeous day,” she said; 
“ we might have had breakfast in the summer¬ 
house. It’s just the weather for it.” 

He replied with polite effort but seemed rather 
absent. When they were seated he said abruptly, 
with a gesture toward his coat pocket, “ I say, 
Cousin Hilda, would you mind if I kept this thing 
a while? The dogs were after it and-” 

A fluff of grey-and-white suddenly popped out 
of his side pocket and two big round eyes looked 
out on the world. A tiny Angora kitten slowly 
pulled itself out of its seclusion and cuddled in the 
crook of Jack’s grey tweed arm. Hilda stared at 
it without much enthusiasm. She shared her moth¬ 
er’s feeling about cats. 

“ It’s very little and it’s quite pretty,” she hesi¬ 
tated. She hated to say that so small and helpless 

a creature must be denied shelter. “ I suppose it 

hi 



HILDA OF GREY COT 

will be all right to keep it,—in the garage or barn. 
You could put it in a big cage, couldn’t you?” 
Seeing Jack’s flash of amusement she added firmly, 
“ For it would not do to lose it. It must belong to 
someone. Angora cats are rare, you know.” 

Jack appeared satisfied. “ I’ll fix him up in the 
other stable until his owner turns up,” he said cheer¬ 
fully, and then he tucked the little kitten back into 
his loose pocket and began to sugar his oatmeal with 
a sparing hand. “ Dandy little car you’ve got out 
in the garage,” he remarked cordially. “John says 
she’s pretty fast. What can you get out of her? ” 

Jidda jumped to a lively account of the car’s 
superior merits, boasting as only fond car-owners 
can, and offering to show its speed on the deserted 
race-track beyond the thicket; while Jack com¬ 
mented sagely and calmly contrasted makes of cars 
which he had driven. It was amazing how their 
tastes ran toward the same groove. Hilda forgot 
her prejudices in the excitement of the discussion, 
until a soft creepy sensation on the side of her skirt 
and a furry warmth in her lap made her start and 
cry out. 

“ Oh, Jack, take it away,—your kitten’s in my 
lap! ” she cried, recoiling from the fluffy, clawing, 
kneading atom. “ I hate kittens when they claw 
like that! ” 

Jack raised himself in his chair to get a view of 

11 2 


HER FIRST COMMISSION, 

the intruder. He won’t hurt you,” he soothed. 
“ Clever little cuss, to have got away without my 
knowing, though. There, he’s settling down. 
You’d better let him have his nap there. It’s more 
comfy than my pocket.” 

Hilda’s blood ran cold while the sharp little 
claws were kneading and treading, but Jack’s smile 
and the kitten’s sudden curling down to sleep made 
her check the words that were on her lips. The 
ringing of the telephone came like a relief call, but 
Jack was in the hall before she could stir. He 
spoke briefly and returned with a satisfied air. 

“ They say that some kid told them the dogs ran 
it into the summer-house here,” he said. “ They’ll 
be over right away. It’s a great pet and they’re 
regularly daffy over it. Said it went off right after 
it had breakfast. A girl owns it and she says its 
name is—hullo, someone’s coming across the wood- 
road now. My Jiminy, they are in a hurry! ” 

Hilda glanced out at the road seen between the 
tree trunks. A glimpse of a tam-o’-shantered head 
with a tail of flaming red-gold hair streaming after 
it was all she saw, however, for at that same instant 
a thump on the table beneath her plate made her 
jump, and in a twinkling her lap was empty and 
the kitten was in the air. 

Bang! went the kitten’s head against the table. 

Whisk! went the kitten into the air! 

113 



HILDA OF GREY COT 


Hilda screamed and started up. Jack started 
up, too, though he did not scream. The kitten flew 
about in widening circles, a mere stream of dazzling 
grey and white, whizzing past each in turn. 

Hilda gasped and seized the caraffe. “ Is it 
mad? ” she breathed as the kitten missed her head 
bv an inch or less. “ Oh, what’s the matter with 
it?” 

Whizz! bang! went the kitten, past Jack, past 
Hilda again. It hit the glass closet at an acute 
angle, knocking over a cup and shattering the glass, 
bolted into the great punch-bowl on the lower shelf 
and hung there with its paws caught through the 
pierced-work edge, panting and quivering into a 
state of collapse. 

At the same moment a high clear voice cried, 
indignantly, “ There, see what you’ve done,—all of 
you! ” 

A figure flashed past Hilda to the glass closet, 
regardless of splintered pitfalls, swooped on the 
palpitating kitten and lifted it from the punch¬ 
bowl. A brown tam-o’-shanter dropped from the 
red-gold head as its owner shook it fiercely at them 
both repeating vehemently, “ There, see what 
you’ve done to a poor darling of a wee kitten that 
wouldn’t hurt a fly! Frightening her into fits and 
never caring a hit! ” 

A paralyzing second of silence answered this in- 

114 


HER FIRST COMMISSION 


justice and then Jack spoke sarcastically, “ Seems 
to me you’re mighty quick about blaming people 
who only took your kitten in because the dogs 
would have eaten it alive. Hadn’t you better wait 
until you know what you’re talking about? ” 

Hilda hastily interposed; Martha’s stern face 
stared in at the pantry door with John’s head in 
full view over her shoulder. Hilda spoke sooth¬ 
ingly, for she was rather ashamed of her repug¬ 
nance to the pet kitten. 

“ I am sure we haven’t done anything to harm the 
poor kitten,” she said. “ It was taking a nap in my 
lap when—when-” 

“ When it had a fit,” put in Jack determinedly. 
“ It had a fit from eating too much, I bet. I 
shouldn’t wonder if you fed it meat arid such stuff 
for its breakfast. And then blame us for its fits! ” 
He looked rather contemptuously at the owner and 
it was very plain what he thought of her. 

Hilda went quietly on, smiling at the flushed 
girl who clutched the kitten with both hands and 
faced them defiantly. “We really didn’t do a thing 
to it,” she repeated. “ I’m sorry you feel so about 
it.” 

The girl looked steadily at her and her expression 
changed swiftly. She grew redder than before but 
her eyes no longer flashed. She glanced hastily at 
the wreckage of glass; at Martha who was begin- 

115 



HILDA OF GREY COT 


ning to sweep up the scattered fragments, and she 
spoke in a low tone. “ I’m awfully sorry about the 
damage, if Muffins did it,” she said with remorse 
as deep as her wrath had been hot. “ I’ll pay for 
it, of course, but I can’t make up for the trouble,— 
unless you’ll let me send you something awfully 
nice, like a dozen opera records for your victrola 
if you have one, or a set of books, or-” 

Hilda broke in on her extreme of penitence with 
a laugh. “We can’t think of letting you do any¬ 
thing,” she said gaily. “ All we can do is to for¬ 
give all around and forget the disagreeable part. 
The glass closet can soon be mended, and if Muf¬ 
fins is all right after its—his spree, we won’t say any 
more on the matter. Shall we shake hands and in¬ 
troduce ourselves? I am Hilda Hare, and this is 
my cousin Jack Hastings.” 

The girl put out a long muscular hand with curv¬ 
ing sensitive finger-tips and grasped Hilda’s hand 

firmlv. “ I’m Esther Marie Louise Skelton,” she 

«/ * 

explained. “ We’ve just come to live in the house 
by the pine grove. And I’m very glad to meet 
you, Miss Hare.” 

To Jack she gave only the tips of her fingers, 
bowing very ceremoniously. It was plain that she 
could not change her first opinion of him. “ I have 
seen Mr. Hastings before,” she remarked to Hilda 

loftily. “ Yesterday—at the pond.” 

116 





THE GIRL GRASPED HILDA’S HAND FIRMLY 











HER FIRST COMMISSION 

Then, before they could say another word, she 
had recovered her brown tam from the chair where 
Jack had laid it, and with the kitten tightly tucked 
under one arm, she was gone. 

J ack shrugged his shoulders as he looked at her 
diminishing figure on the wood-road. “ I swear 
I’ll never bring another cat, kitten, or tom-cat on 
these premises no matter what’s ailing them,” he 
declared solemnly, adding in a livelier tone, “ What 
a spitfire that girl is,—just like all red-heads.” 

Hilda laughed at his face. Although she could 
not deny that their visitor’s manner had been un¬ 
usual, she would not agree as to her hair. “ It’s a 
lovely red-gold,” she insisted. “ It’ll be perfectly 
glorious when she is older. I wish that she’d 
stopped a bit, so that we might have known more 
about her. I don’t know a soul in this place and 
it might have been interesting. She’s surely un¬ 
usual.” 

Martha passed with the dust-pan in her hand. 
“ I think the young lady must be the same that has 
moved in at The Pines on Friday, Miss Hilda,” 
she said. “ Mrs. Jackson’s Minnie told me there 
was only two grown-ups in the family, the father 
who’s always in the city on business, and the lady 
who takes care of the young lady as does as she 
likes from morning till night. Minnie says they’re 

grand people, and they have that great house just 

117 



HILDA OF GREY COT 


filled with foreign statuary and such. She says it’s 
a sight to be seen.” 

“ Like its owner,” muttered Jack, who plainly 
could not forgive and forget the vehement Miss 
Skelton. 

Hilda laughed again to see how entirely his easy 
calm had deserted him at the advent of the owner 
of Muffins. But she did not carry the matter 
further, for the clock was striking the half-hour 
and she had various small duties to attend to be¬ 
fore she made readv for her lesson with Mr. Dalton. 

«/ 

“ I’ll take you down-town as far as the Monu¬ 
ment if you’d like to go sightseeing alone,” she 
told him as they left the dining-room. “I go on 
duty at ten-thirty for the morning, or I’d show you 
about myself.” 

Jaek thanked her but said he would stop at home 
for the morning. “ I haven’t half seen these dig- 
gins yet,” he declared. “ John’s promised to show 
me how to plant late beans. I’m thinking of being 
a farmer some of these days and I might as well 
start collecting information.” 

“ I thought you were collecting snakes,” com¬ 
mented Hilda as she turned to leave the room, but 
he had disappeared. 

When she hurried out to the garage some time 
later she saw him with a spade and watering-pot 

busy with the good brown earth, and although she 

118 


HER FIRST COMMISSION 

waved and called good-bye, hoping that he would 
be tempted to leave his work long enough to see her 
triumphant departure in the boasted car, he merely 
waved one earth-stained hand and kept on dig¬ 
ging. 

She found Mr. Dalton ready with answers to her 
questions and, further, he was quite willing to invite 
her new friend, Mrs. Bradford, to see his price¬ 
less tapestries, which he kept in the inner room. 
“ Bring her any time you will,” he said, genially. 
“ The sooner the better, though, for I am going to 
move them to Washington next month.” 

Hilda, delighted, promised to accept his kindness 
at the very first moment Mrs. Bradford should be 
able to come and agreed with him that some morm 
ing when she was taking her lesson would be the 
most convenient for them both. 

As she neared the Grey Cot garage, with her 
mind full of agreeable plans and hopes, she was 
startled to see a hairy, yellow object drag itself 
out of the inner shadows. It was not a cat. Any- 
body could see it was not a cat. It was too big. 
But it was so rolled in an old linen coat, and it 
dragged itself so painfully along that it was not 
until it emerged into the light and turned a whisk¬ 
ered Irish muzzle that she saw it was a badly dam¬ 
aged terrier. 

“ Why, you poor thing!” she began, halting the 

xi9 



HILDA OF GREY COT 

car with a jolt and bending out to see better. 
“ What in the world-” 

The poor thing crawled an inch nearer, trying to 
wag a feeble tail, and Jack’s voice came unex¬ 
pectedly from the little room by the door, followed 
by Jack himself. 

“ He’s a nice fellow I came across on the lots,” 
he explained. “He’s been run over, I think, and 
he’s almost starved to death, too. I’m going to 
feed him up and doctor him a bit,—that is, if you 
don’t mind, Cousin Hilda.” 

She did not mind in the least in this case, for her 
heart was warm toward all canine creation. She 
was all interest at once. She examined the forlorn 
grateful creature, getting iodine for the grievous 
wounds, and putting it on while Jack held and 
soothed him. Then she brought an old chair cush¬ 
ion and some soft rugs, and together she and Jack 
made a comfortable bed for the invalid in a big 
box in the far end of the garage. There, with some 
warm milk, they left him. 

“ He’ll do very well now,” said Hilda. “ After 
lunch I’ll call up Dr. Wilson. He used to tend 
our animals at Uplands and he’ll know just what’s 
best.” 

After lunch, however, she forgot all about Dr. 
Wilson, for the man from Miller’s came to measure 

the broken panel of the glass closet and his estimate 

120 



HER FIRST COMMISSION 


of the small curved panel was so much more than 
she had expected that she almost regretted her 
magnanimous refusal of Esther Marie Louise Skel¬ 
ton’s offer. Another distraction arrived in the 
shape of a beautifully done-up parcel from Phillips’ 
choice book-shop, which proved to be a blue leather 
set of James Lane Allen’s works; and in the wrap¬ 
pings of which was a short note from the vehement 
Miss Skelton. Jack and Llilda read it together. 

“ Dear Miss Hare,” it said. “ Will you ever for¬ 
give me for acting like such a ruffian? I am per¬ 
fectly positive that you were very good to Muffins, 
and I am horribly sorry for what I said. If you 
can overlook it, will you come to tea to-morrow 
afternoon at four-thirty? Miss DuBois hopes you 
may be so kind. Yours most sincerely (and sor¬ 
rowfully) Esther Marie Louise Skelton. P. S. 
I found out that the wretch of a cook fed Muffins 
on raw steak. Mistaken kindness.” 


Jack grunted scornfully. “ Sounds just like her, 
—rushing at things pell-mell,” he commented 
dryly. “ She’s crushed on you, Cousin Hilda,— 
that’s about it. She’ll pester you to death, if you 
let her. I wouldn’t go to her old tea if I were you.” 

“ Pooh, you’re cross because you aren’t asked,” 
retorted Hilda gaily. “ Of course I shall go. I 

wouldn’t miss the chance of seeing that house, with 

121 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

it's ‘ foreign statuary and such’ for worlds. Mercy, 
there’s the clock striking two! I must fly-” 

“ I’ll be off to the tennis match myself pretty 
soon,” said Jack, loftily. “We men aren’t keen on 
sitting about, sipping tea on days like these. I’ll 
think of you to-morrow,—and be sorry for you.” 

She laughed back at him and then halted. “ Tell 
Leslie I’m not going to go anywhere till the dance,” 
she said firmly. “ You can go about with them all 
you want,—they’re a nice lot, when one isn’t busy. 
I’m too hard at work, though, to see anyone till the 
dance.” 

She drove off feeling rather proud of herself. 
The partnership looked rather sure to her at this 
moment. 

* * * * ■* * 

“ Ah, you are on time as usual,” said Mrs. Brad¬ 
ford in her most cordial tone. 

She was in a lovely filmy violet gown. She 
shook hands with Hilda and ushered her into her 
cool, attractive rooms without any mention of the 
trip to the suburbs. There were many flowers in 
the rooms and a tea-tray with tall glasses and deli¬ 
cate dishes was on the table by the east window. 

Hilda looked about in surprise. “ I thought you 
wanted me to take you-” she began awkwardly. 

Mrs. Bradford interrupted her with a pretty ges¬ 
ture. “ Of course we are going out after while,” 

122 





HER FIRST COMMISSION 


she smiled. “ But in the meanwhile I have a com¬ 
mittee meeting of the Welfare Workers,—post¬ 
poned unexpectedly until to-day. I have a cup of 
iced tea waiting for them. After our business is 
over we will go,—you and I, just as we had 
planned.” 

Hilda hastily told her of Mr. Dalton’s invitation, 
eager to make an engagement for the day of her 
next lesson, but Mrs. Bradford sighed. “ My dear, 
I have every morning this week filled to the brim,” 
she said. “ I was hoping you might find a boy 
friend to help with the tickets at our matinee con¬ 
cert for the Ice Fund.” 

The clang of the elevator broke in on Hilda’s 
promise to supply someone, and after that there 
was no chance for further talk. The guests came 
all at once, one after another clanging their way 
up in the elevator to the hospitable door that stood 
open for them. Hilda was surprised how many of 
them there turned out to be. 

There were at least twenty,—and not all women, 
for Captain Mulford and Major Potts dropped in 
quite by chance after the others had arrived; and 
Mrs. Bradford said when she commissioned Hilda 
to see that they had tea, soldiers were not to be ex¬ 
pected to take part in committee squabbles, so it 
was quite natural that Hilda as another outsider 

should entertain them while the others discussed 

123 



HILDA OF GREY COT 


business matters. Captain Mulford was an easy 
talker and Major Potts, though less brilliant and 
good-looking, had the most thrilling adventures to 
relate. 

Hilda hardly knew w T here the time had flown 
when the Committee rose to take its leave and the 
two military men, at a slight signal from Mrs. 
Bradford, also got on their feet. They did not 
leave, however, without some pledges of future 
meetings. Captain Mulford insisted that Miss 
Hare positively must see their shack at the camp 
and Major Potts seconded him heartily. 

Mrs. Bradford smiled as the two men disap¬ 
peared into the elevator. “ You ought to be flat¬ 
tered, my dear,” she said lightly. “ Archie Mul¬ 
ford is considered the most critical man in the regi¬ 
ment and Major Potts positively refuses to talk to 
the average girl,—he says her lack of intelligence is 
too pathetic.” 

Hilda swallowed the flattery without an effort. 
She smiled happily back at her friend. 

“ I shall love to see the camp with you,” she re¬ 
plied. 

Mrs. Bradford paused on the threshold of her 
bedroom to blow a kiss in response and then she 
disappeared to change for the drive and inspection 
of the Hampton Apartments. 

Hilda sank down in the low chair and took up a 

124 


HER FIRST COMMISSION 


magazine. But she did not even try to read. Life 
was infinitely more thrilling to her just at the mo¬ 
ment than any printed page. She looked back over 
the last few days with great satisfaction. Jack and 
Page, her lessons, her future and Mrs. Bradford! 
Surely she had begun her probation well. She 
planned a letter to Jean that should satisfy her 
chum as to her care of the pennies. 

“ Is it an amusing story? ” asked Mrs. Bradford’s 
soft voice. 

Hilda looked up with a start. Her friend was 
standing smiling down at her and drawing on her 
gloves with the quick, sure gestures that Hilda so 
admired. The half-hour had sped with incredible 
swiftness,—so beguiling is the pursuit of one’s own 
happiness. She flung down the book with a laugh, 
evading the question. 

“ How quickly you have dressed,” she cried 
springing up with a glance of admiration at the se¬ 
verely tailored white linen and modish hat. “ I 
couldn’t have managed it in twice the time. Are 
you really quite ready? ” 

Mrs. Bradford was quite ready. They went 
down to the street where the foursome was waiting 
and were soon on their way toward the settlement 
where the Hampton Apartments were located. 
The day was now slightly overcast and the long 

row of two-story apartments looked rather unin- 

125 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

viting to Hilda, in sharp contrast to her recent sur¬ 
roundings. 

Mrs. Bradford did not seem to share her feel¬ 
ings, however, and she made the tour of inspection 
very thoroughly, going into each suite and noting 
every detail with great apparent interest. She 
made an exhaustive examination of the entire row, 
and they came out on the pavement just as the six 
o’clock chimes were sounding from St. Agatha’s 
church far across the lots. 

She turned to Hilda with a serious face. “ You 
said you would like to help the good cause,” she 
said. “ How would it suit you to do that little 
square room,—my sitting-room,—for me? I shall 
want it very beautifully done,—not like a glorified 
workman’s parlor but as a place where I can have 
my most special friends enjoy a cup of tea or a bit 
of music with me.” 

Hilda flushed with pleasure. “ I’ll simply adore 
it! ” she cried warmly. “ If you really want me to, 
—you know how to do everything so wonderfully 
well.” And then she sobered. “ But you know, 
I’m not a regular interior decorator yet,” she added. 
“ Perhaps you ought to wait-” 

The other broke in on her with a gay gesture. 
“ Nonsense ! ” she cried. “ I will trust you to any 
extent. You have quite good enough taste for me, 

—with your Mr. Dalton at your elbow. Only,” 

126 



HER FIRST COMMISSION 

and here her face grew more serious, “ I’d rather it 
were just between you and me. I don’t want any¬ 
one to know of my plan until I have the place quite 
furnished and ready. Of course, if you insist on 
its being known-” 

Hilda protested eagerly that she should much 
rather it be so. “ I’ll try to do it all myself, 
too,” she said. “ It will be wonderful practice 
for me. You’re marvelously kind to trust me with 
it.” 

Mrs. Bradford laid a light hand on her arm. 
“ My dear child, I can see what others sometimes 
cannot,” she said quietly. “ I know you are a born 
artist. I trust you absolutely. The only thing I 
hesitate about is the sum we are to spend on it. Do 
you think you can manage it for, well, say a thou¬ 
sand dollars? ” 

Hilda looked puzzled. She had no earthly way 
of knowing how much a room such as Mrs. Brad¬ 
ford wanted might cost. She had lived among 
beautiful things all her life but the price had not 
been thought of. She made a swift decision. 

“ I’ll tell you what,” she said in a brisk, business¬ 
like tone. “ I’ll go ahead with the color scheme, the 
draperies and such, and after I have it arranged, 
you can criticize. If it’s too high-priced or too 
cheap, we can change it.” She added thoughtfully, 

“ It might be better for you to get the things after 

127 



HILDA OF GREY COT 

we had decided on them,—then you’d know they 
were all right.” 

Mrs. Bradford held up her hands. “ Have mercy 
on my ignorance! ” she cried laughing. “ I know 
nothing of furnishings. You shall buy every single 
thing yourself. I don’t want to see it until it is 
done. You see, where I trust, I trust absolutely. 
Bring the bills to me and I’ll settle them—that is 
all I agree to do.” She held out the small paper on 
which she had made careful measurements of the 
room, with a sketch of each wall. “ Take this now, 
and when you want to see the room again, go to 
the agent at the corner apartment. I have left a 
key with him for our use. You are free to come 
when vou will.” 

Hilda left her at the Ardsmore, marveling at her 
generosity and her unselfish interest in her work. 
She drove awav with her head and heart aglow. “ I 
wish I could be more like her,” she thought wist¬ 
fully. “ She’s willing to do all that; to go out 
there on the lots among those hideous small houses, 
just to prove the theories of the Welfare Workers. 
She’s so good that she makes me feel ashamed.” 

And, completely absorbed in wonder at her new 
friend’s goodness and delight in the task before her, 
she forgot Page Carter and went home, smiling at 
the golden future which lay just ahead. 

“ What news for old Jean,” she thought. “ What 

128 



HER FIRST COMMISSION 


a chance to show Mother that I really can do some¬ 
thing well. It’s a perfect miracle that it happens 
now, when I can keep it for a surprise for them all. 
Oh, I wish I had the drawings made to show Mr. 
Dalton day after to-morrow. Perhaps I can do 
them. I’ll make a stab at it, anyway.” 


129 


CHAPTER IX 


FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES 

Hilda was in the summer-house deep in interior 
decoration. 

She had spent the morning in a rush about town, 
comparing exhibits in the department stores with 
the furnishings and fabrics in her text-books. She 
meant to be very thorough. She had asked Jack to 
help with the tickets at Mrs. Bradford’s matinee 
concert and, pleased with his ready agreement, had 
invited him to have lunch with her down-town. She 
had really enjoyed the hour spent in the cool Ritz 
cafe in spite of his candid comments. He had been 
slightly bored but too polite to let it be very plainly 
seen, but when they had returned home he rushed 
to the stable to refresh himself with his harmless 
snakes and the latest addition, the damaged terrier. 

Hilda watched him swinging down the road to 
the woods, can in hand and the sun on his shining 
dark hair. At the turn he halted, looked back and 
then went on. 

Everything was very quiet. The last roses 
stirred on the soft wind and a song sparrow trilled 

130 


FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES 

in the linden trees. A deep sense of peace and 
security was in the fragrant air and almost visible 
in the murmuring loveliness of the drowsy old gar¬ 
den. 

It drew Hilda’s eyes in spite of herself. Some¬ 
how it reminded her of her mother. She laid aside 
her books for a while and began a letter to her, tell¬ 
ing her of the happenings of the past two days and 
enlarging on the goodness and charm of her new 
friend Mrs. Bradford. Of course, she did not men¬ 
tion the secret commission she held. Nor did she 
speak of her visits to Page Carter, as that, too, was 
a forbidden subject. But she did write of Jack and 
his fancy for animals. 

“ He has only been here since Sunday after¬ 
noon,” she wrote with a smile, “ and he has gathered 
in some snakes, a stray kitten and the most bat¬ 
tered-up dog you ever saw-” 

“Help! Murder-r-r! Help!” 

It was a cry to curdle the blood. It came from 
the back of the garage. 

Hilda sj)rang to her feet. She was in the garage 
at John’s heels, and as they reached the dim in¬ 
terior Jack ran in from the road, can in hand. For 
the fraction of a second they all halted as they saw 
what was happening. 

A strange man, a very tattered man in red 
sweater and dingy cap, was caught by the leg by 

131 



HILDA OF GREY COT 

the roll of bandages that was the dog, and the man 
was aiming blow after blow with a tire-pump at the 
head and body of his steadfast captor. 

“Ah, it’s you!” cried John, making a spring 
toward the man, while Jack flew to the dog, shout¬ 
ing commands of, “ Drop him! Do you hear, Spot, 
Rover, Mike,—drop him! ” 

It all happened in a second, and Hilda could 
hardly tell which came first,—whether the dog 
dropped the leg that he had held so firmly, or 
whether the man broke loose. All she could be sure 
of was, that one instant the man and dog were 
locked together, and the next instant the man had 
fled through the back window with incredible light¬ 
ness and speed, leaving only his cap and a piece of 
cloth from his ragged trousers, while the dog yelped 
and struggled in a vain effort to follow him. 

John was the first to realize how badly the dog 
was injured. He stooped to pick up the cap and 
then he shook his head as he looked at the poor crea¬ 
ture, who was now groveling at Jack’s feet in abject 
apology for his faithful guardianship of his bene¬ 
factor’s property. 

“ He’s done for himself, poor chap, unless I’m 
mistaken,” he said. “ That tire-pump has punished 
him cruel bad.” 

The poor dog seemed to understand the compas¬ 
sion in the tone. He sat up and lifted his whisk- 

132 


FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES 

ered muzzle toward each in turn, a puzzled look in 
his small, steady eyes; and then he emitted a long 
mournful howl and lay down suddenly at Jack’s 
feet. A stream of bright blood stained the grey 
concrete floor. There was a gasp and faint strug¬ 
gle and then he lay quite still. 

Jack knelt by the limp bundle, and John stooped 
anxiously beside him, but the paw that Jack lifted 
dropped lifelessly again. Jack’s voice was husky 
as he said softly, “ He’s gone out.” 

“ He has that,” said John, kneeling to examine 
the body of the faithful beast. “ He’s busted open 
all them wounds of hisn, poor chap. He died 
game, though. And that’s the best any of us can 
do.” 

Jack straightened out the doubled-up paws and 
smoothed the rough head very tenderly. He said 
not a word but he looked very stern. Hilda un¬ 
derstood how he was feeling. The devotion of the 
poor stricken dog had touched hidden depths of 
tenderness. 

John, looking down upon the pathetic mass of 
tawny fur and bloody bandages, said earnestly, 
“ Mebbe he wasn’t so much to look at, but he sure 
did his part like a man.” And then he added, in 
another tone, “ And now, thanks to him, that thiev¬ 
ing Bill Caffrey will pay for his capers. I’ve al¬ 
ways suspected him of those tires that we’ve been 

i33 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


losing, but now, with the cap and all, I guess it’s a 
pretty clear case. I’ll step over to the constable’s 
and see about it.” 

As he left them, Hilda put a hand on Jack’s arm. 
His silence and the look in his eyes made her very 
sorry for him. “ Let’s bury him in the thicket 
where the laurel bushes are,” she said softly. “ He’s 
been enough of a hero to have laurel all the year.” 

Jack nodded, and together they lifted the poor, 
shattered body and laid it on an improvised 
stretcher. In the green thicket where the birds 
were singing, Jack dug a grave and they laid the 
limp body in the warm brown earth. The pity of it 
laid a finger on Hilda’s lips and she said no word 
until Jack had filled the grave and she had covered 
it with shining laurel twigs. 

“‘Faithful unto death,’” she quoted softly. 
“ It’s a pretty good epitaph, isn’t it? Worth try¬ 
ing for, any time,” and then she went quickly back 
to the house knowing that he would rather be left 
alone. The tragedy had made her very compas¬ 
sionate. 

Jack was rather silent as he left for the tennis 
courts. He did not mention the incident, except to 
report that John had missed the constable at first 
and then it had been found that Bill Caffrey had 
departed without any farewells; and the case 
against him must await his discovery or return. 

134 


FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES 

The large car from The Pines came promptly at 
half after four. Hilda was more than ready. She 
was eager to compare the treasures of The Pines 
with the results of her morning’s work. There 
might be inspiration in the arrangement of the 
rooms at the big house. 

She found her hostesses, however, on the wide 
sumptuous porch and there, too, was the apparatus 
for tea. There was no reason for going indoors at 
all as she acknowledged to herself with some regret. 
Miss DuBois turned out to be an elderly gracious 
lady of rather timid manner who acted as the head 
of the imposing establishment. It was very plain 
that she was merely a figurehead as far as Miss 
Skelton was concerned, for, though Esther Marie, 
as it turned out she was usually called, was very 
affectionate and considerate of her amiable chaper¬ 
one, she undoubtedly lived her life according to her 
own fancy. 

“ I’m going in for collections this summer,” she 
told Hilda after they were settled on the wide ter¬ 
race beneath the spreading white pines. “ It’s just 
the place here for that sort of thing. Grasses and 
mosses and tree forms and birds,—I finished flow¬ 
ers last summer,—they are all about everywhere 
you look. I have five separate collections begun but 
the snakes are the best of all,—harmless ones, you 
know.” 


135 




HILDA OF GREY COT 


Miss DuBois pouring the hot tea on the heaped 
ice sighed helplessly. “ Miss Hare may not be in¬ 
terested in these things, my dear,” she suggested. 
To Hilda she added with a sweet apologetic smile, 
“ Esther Marie is apt to ride her hobbies too hard, 
Miss Hare, but you must not allow her to trouble 
you too much. She forgets that other people are 
not so deeply interested as she.” 

Esther Marie flashed a smile at her old friend 
and shook her red-gold mane buoyantly. “ Indeed 
and indeed, I don’t forget, dear Aunty Lavendar,” 
she cried. “ You don’t let me forget it. I don’t 
bother other people but Miss Hare is different,— 
she understands. I’m perfectly positive that she’ll 
adore my dear snakes and I’m going to show them 
to her directly we’ve finished.” 

She looked so fresh and gay in her pretty, filmy 
frock and dainty slippers that she quite won Hilda’s 
heart. She seemed very unlike the young tornado 
who had swept into the breakfast-room at Grey Cot 
two days ago. Her enthusiasm and her fervent ad¬ 
miration of Hilda were very fetching to that dis¬ 
cerning young lady. 

“ I’ll love to see the snakes,” she said warmly, and 
she meant it, though it had not yet seemed worth 
while to her to go as far as the black stable at Grey 
Cot to view Jack’s watery pets. 

Miss DuBois smiled doubtfully. “ Well, if you 

136 


FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES 

really care to,” she acquiesced, and then she turned 
the talk to other subjects,—the latest news, the dif¬ 
ficulty of getting good biscuits nowadays and the 
wonderful work of the Emergency Aid in which 
she was deeply interested. 

Esther Marie sat quietly by, occupied with her 
clinking glass and throwing in an intelligent word 
now and then,—and Hilda was impressed by the 
clear decision of those words,—until the tea-tray 
was about to be removed; when she jumped up 
eagerly. 

“Now we’ll go see the Reptilians,” she an¬ 
nounced. “ Come along please, Miss Hare.” 

Hilda hesitated, but Miss DuBois shook her 
head. “ Oh, no, my dear, I never visit that build¬ 
ing, if I can possibly avoid it,” she said gently. “ I 
shall be very well occupied with my knitting.” 

Esther Marie put an arm through Hilda’s as 
they went toward the low wooden sheds where the 
snakes were to be found. And she talked,—it was 
wonderful how rapidly she talked. She seemed 
bent on pouring out her whole life and heart to her 
new friend. 

She told of her motherless little girlhood in the 
hotels and schools of Europe with an absolute un¬ 
consciousness of pathos; she drew a picture of her 
indulgent, absorbed father that entirely charmed 
her hearer; she spoke of Miss DuBois with great 

137 





HILDA OF GREY COT 


affection. Altogether she showed such a lovable, 
warm, impetuous nature that Hilda was delighted 
with her. The snakes were a very small part of the 
expedition, although enough was said about them to 
impress some names on Hilda’s mind. 

When she said good-bye to Miss DuBois and 
Esther Marie on the terrace, she was genuinely 
sorry to leave. The atmosphere of adulation she 
had breathed during her hour at The Pines was 
very exhilarating. 

Esther Marie had wanted to ride back with her 
but Miss DuBois had been firm. Hilda was rather 
glad afterward that she had been. As the car de¬ 
posited her at the side gate where she had told the 
chauffeur to let her down, she saw two figures com¬ 
ing slowly along the grassy road by the thicket. 

“ Great goodness! ” was all she could say. 

And then, after another amazed look, she turned 
to stare blankly at the approaching pair, uncon¬ 
scious of the chauffeur’s slow exit. 

“ Great goodness, where did he dig up that 
wreck? ” she breathed. 

The gaunt, bony horse limped painfully along, 
led carefully by Jack, who was so intent on his 
charge that he had not noticed the car. The horse 
was so pitifully thin that his bones actually stuck 
out of his skin in places. He ambled wearily, 

dragging his feet with difficulty, as Jack gently 

138 


FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES 

urged him toward the back entrance to the 
grounds. 

The sight of his cousin’s petrified form caught his 
eye just as he was turning the exhausted beast into 
the gravel driveway and he turned to wave excit¬ 
edly at her. He did not seem to feel there was 
anything surprising about the affair, though, and 
when Hilda hurried after him, he turned to face her 
with all the confidence of sure sympathy. 

“ I bought him from a beast who was building a 
fire under him! ” he burst out fiercely as soon as 
they met. “ He was building a fire under him be¬ 
cause he couldn’t make him drag a great, heavy 
wagon up a steep hill. I was going to get him ar¬ 
rested for cruelty but there wasn’t any policeman, 
and so I bought him instead. I paid him five dol¬ 
lars,—just what the Phosphate Works gives for 
dead ones,—and I’m going to take care of him for 
a while, if you don’t mind, Cousin Hilda. I’ll pay 
for his feed and take care of him.” 

Hilda looked at the poor feeble animal with 
meekly drooping head and half-closed eyes, and 
sympathy for its weakness checked the laughter 
gathering on her lips. 

“ Of course, you can keep it here for a while,” she 
agreed, warmly. “I don’t suppose John will 
mind-” 

John emerged from the little room unexpectedly. 

i39 




HILDA OF GREY COT 


He took the bridle out of Jack’s hand. He had 
evidently heard enough to satisfy him as to what 
must be done. “I’ll take charge of the beast, Miss 
Hilda,” he said soberly. “ I’m thinking the crea¬ 
ture needs more experienced treatment than Master 
Jack has at command.” 

Hilda watched the three, John, Jack and the 
limping horse, go slowly toward the barn, and then 
she turned to Maidha, who had come out to see what 
was going on. 

“ He’s bent on bringing in all the forlorn crea¬ 
tures he meets,” she said helplessly. “And they 
keep on getting larger and larger. I suppose it 
will be a lame elephant next.” 

“Ah, but he has the kind nature, Miss Hilda,” 
Martha remonstrated. “ You couldn’t well refuse, 
—after that poor dog that John’s been telling me 
of. And he’s so nice about it,—‘ if you don’t 
mind ’ he says quite humble and polite-like. Ah, 
yes, he’s a kind heart, has Master Jack.” 

“ Oh, yes, he seems to be meek enough about it,” 
laughed Hilda. “ But he brings them in before he 
asks,—he has to rescue them on the instant,—and 
one can’t be inhuman enough to deny him. But I 
certainly shall draw the line at the elephant.” 

Jack came in to dinner with an oddly mixed man¬ 
ner. He was enthusiastic about the horse, pre¬ 
dicting that it would make a fine animal in time,— 

140 


FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES 

and here he frowned at Hilda’s giggle,—and he 
quoted John with great emphasis in regard to the 
method of feeding a starved animal. “ We’re go¬ 
ing to go slow on the feed at first,” he told her. 
“A little at a time and more as he gets used to it. 
He’ll be a horse to be proud of some day.” 

He was not at all interested as to Hilda’s visit to 
The Pines and listened to her account Avith scant 
courtesy, even when she spoke of matters that 
should have interested him. 

Your red-haired girl, as you call her, has a lot 
of snakes in her collection,” she told him as the iced 
bouillon Avas set before them. “ It’s quite Avonder- 
ful hoAv many she seems to have gotten in such a 
short time. You ought to go over to see them.” 

“Funny thing for a girl to take up, isn’t it? I 
should think she’d rather stick to something more in 
her line,” he replied indifferently. “ I saw that 
Janey Sloan at the tennis court to-day and she was 
asking after you. She says she’ll be over to-mor- 
roAV to see you about the Field Day. I said I’d go. 
She’s going to give me four Avaltzes at the dance. 
I can waltz pretty Avell.” 

He then said he had letters to write after dinner 
and Avould go right up, if she didn’t mind. The 
talk Avas fitful after this, and was mainly kept up 
by Hilda, who, happening to recall some clever 

speech of Mrs. Bradford’s about dancing, repeated 

141 


i Fv 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


it and then described the lady, her generosities and 
her many charms. She simply had to talk to some¬ 
one and Jack was not absolutely deaf. 

44 Sounds too perfect for me,” he commented at 
last. 44 1 bet she isn’t a patch on Aunt Cynthia. 
Is she now, honest? ” ' 

44 W-w’ell/* hesitated Hilda, 44 she’s so entirely 
different, you know. She’s perfectly lovely, 
though. She always says and does exactly the 
right thing.” .mid ovmi bfuoda 

44 Sounds as if she were stuck on herself,” grinned 
Jack. 44 I’ll take Aunt Cynthia every time.” 
Then he excused himself and went up-stairs. ^ ; 

Hilda went to her own room to finish the inter¬ 
rupted letter and after she had ended her account 
of the people at The Pines, and of Jack’s latest 
protege, she went to the window just in time to see 
Jack’s slim form drop from the lower branches of 
the big ash by his window and disappear among the 
shadows of the lindens toward the gate. 

A swift rush of curiosity made her strain her eyes 
through the young moonlight to catch a glimpse of 
him as he turned to close the wicket. There was a 
distinct gleam of white squares in his hand and her 
curiosity ebbed. 

44 He’s probably only going to mail his letters,” 
she told herself with a laugh. 44 And he prefers 

risking his neck to coming down-stairs like a Chris- 

142 


FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES 


tian. Boys are more like monkeys than anything 
else, I do believe.” 

It was a couple of hours later that, looking from 
her window toward the spot where the new grave 
was, she saw something white gleaming through the 
shadows, and, on going softly down-stairs and out 
to the spot, found the white object to be a white 
wooden tombstone with an inscription that brought 
the ready tears to her eyes. “ Faithful unto death. 
August r6.” She knew that Jack had paid this 
tribute, and her thoughts of him were very tender 
as she went back to her room and to bed. 


“ I’ll never say a word no matter what he brings 
in after this,” she told herself earnestly. “ Love of 
animals is a fine thing and it ought to be encour¬ 
aged.” 

She had quite forgotten her first opinion of him 
and was almost ready to join the ranks of his warm¬ 
est admirers. The next day, however, brought a 
change of heart. 

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".vsQ bbi r; I bfiB aorifib srll ioi of nod 

boiorkn bbw vod *i5gno?.8ocn odf ho odoid 
iuo gnibfod . vkiogBS miff Inirvot hoi nut or!?, hem ni 
bognBflo d? gqsdioT .oqolovno oil) *iot bn&n *iorf 

.mrgod od? ".bnirn -rod 

aH .niBigoIot odi 'isri ovig ton bib vod odi tsd! 

.biBvnoI botord? bar! o?\& orfw <>bii l 1b bodocf 


143 


CHAPTER X 


A CHANGE OF HEART 

The telegram began it. 

It came just after the mail had been opened and 
Hilda had read her mother’s disappointing news. 
Mrs. Hare had said that she could not come home 
for at least two weeks, as she was going to take 
Cousin Alice to Mount Clemens as soon as she was 
able to'be moved and that she should stay with her 
there until the nurse, who was temporarily laid up 
with an abscess in her ear, should be able to take 
charge again. 

“ That means we’ll have to do without her for the 
dance,” she said, looking up at Jack with clouded 
eyes, sure of his regret. “ I did hope she’d get 
home for the dance and Field Day.” 

She broke off as the messenger boy was ushered 
in and she turned toward him eagerly, holding out 
her hand for the envelope. “ Perhaps she’s changed 
her mind,” she began. 

But the boy did not give her the telegram. He 

looked at Jack, who also had started forward. 

144 


A CHANGE OF HEART 

“Mr. John Howard Hastings?” he asked in his 
impersonal official voice. “ Sign here, please,” and 
he offered a stubby pencil for the signature. 

Jack took the pencil quickly. “Yes, it’s for 
me,” he replied, and from his manner Hilda got 
the impression that he had been expecting the mes¬ 
sage. Her fears rose in a flash. 

“ Oh, Jack, it isn’t bad news from your Aunt 
Alice? ” she asked, as the boy tucked his book in his 
pocket and went out. “ Do tell me what it is.” 

Jack backed off as though he feared she might 
take the paper from his hand. “ It isn’t anything,” 
he assured her. “ Really, it isn’t.” 

He seemed so flustered that her fears grew posi¬ 
tive. She faced him with reproachful eyes. 
“ Please tell me, Jack,” she urged. “ If it’s any¬ 
thing serious, I ought to know,” and she held out 



kind and comforting if the news were really as bad 
as Jack’s flushed face and disturbed manner indi¬ 
cated. “ Please,” she said very gently. 

Jack hesitated. “It isn’t anything,” he began 
again, and he thrust the telegram into her hand 
with a gesture that was anything but grateful. 
“ Well, there, if you must butt in,” he blurted 
out. “ But it isn’t any of your business, you 
know.” 

Hilda, stung by this reception of her sympathy, 

i45 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


read with puzzled eyes the words on the yellow 
sheet. “ Nothing doing. Short on style. Better 
higher. J. J. W.’ ? ali *10') li*>n aq vdcf ui8 a baieifo di! 

“ What in the world? ” she said in bewilderment. 


Jack seemed stung beyond endurance. He 
glared at her for a moment quite as he had glared 
at the Skelton girl. “ It’s a wonder you don’t ui> 
derstand it, since you’re so all-fired smart,” he said 
sharply. “ But you needn’t think I’m going to 
explain it, for I’m not. It’s something that doesn’t 
concern you at all, and,” he added, cooling slightly, 
“it’s perfectly all right, anyway. Don’t think it 
isn’t perfectly straight. It’s all right. Only it’s 


j 


ill 02 b 


my own business.” 

And with that he took the telegram, folded it, 
thrust it into his pocket, and, before Hilda could 
find a suitable reply, he was at the door, where he 
turned to say almost in his usual fashion, “ I’ll go 


get the car. It’s about time to be off. I’ll bring 
her around while you get your hat.” 


There was nothing to do but accept the matter as 
it was. If Hilda wanted an explanation, she knew 
she must come to an open rupture with her cousin. 
His manner left no doubts on that score. She 


sighed over the perversity of human affairs in gen¬ 
eral and boys in particular as she went for her hat 
and gloves. All her former opinions of Jack’s real 

character rose up in full strength. She tried con- 

146 


A CHANGE OF HEART 

v ^ r 

scientiously to repress them but they clamored for 
a hearing. 

* *. > 

Nevertheless, she was quite amiable on the drive 
down-town. She was supported by the feeling 
that she was heaping coals of fire on her secretive 
young cousin’s head. It was the morning he was to 
help at the ticket office of the matinee concert for 
the Ice Fund and she knew that Mrs. Bradford 
would be in charge. She could think of no more 
pleasing duty than serving in the palm-shaded 
lobby under the gracious superintendence of this 
lovely woman. Of course, there would be girls 
there,—girl ushers and all that*—but Mrs. Brad¬ 
ford far outshone any mere girl in Hilda’s mind. 

She dropped Jack at the hotel entrance with the 
promise of meeting him there at twelve-thirty, and 
then went about her errands. She stopped at Wat¬ 
son’s and saw Page Carter for a few minutes. It 
was early for glove customers and Page had time 
to show her the latest letter from South America, 
and some snapshots of Carter on the tennis court at 
the English Club. 

“ He’s awfully fine-looking. I don’t wonder 
you want him to have his partnership,” said Hilda 
with enthusiasm. “ He looks like someone impor¬ 
tant already.” > 

Page glowed at the praise. She looked rather 
pale and tired but her cheeks flushed and her eyes 

147 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

shone as she spoke of her beloved brother. “ He’s 
mighty fine to me,” she said simply. “ .When he’s 
wealthy, he’ll give me everything I want. He’s 
like that. I wouldn’t let him know all this,” she 
waved to her surroundings, “ no, not for the world. 
He’d send straight off to me to go back to the 
Marta-Marie, even if he had to work for years to 
make just enough to keep me there.” 

Hilda was so impressed that she did not insist 
when Page gently refused to come to Grey Cot just 
yet. Such a brother was worth much sacrifice. 
She made her promise, though, that she would come 
for long drives and perhaps a little picnic for two 
on Saturday afternoon or Sunday. Page con¬ 
fessed she should love the picnic. “ I take long 
walks to the country on Sundays now,” she told 
Hilda, “ but I get mighty tired. I’m not very 
good at walking.” 

Plilda went to her lesson with a sense of being a 
decided factor in the world’s work. She was surely 
making Page Carter’s life happier and she was en¬ 
trusted with an important commission from Mrs. 
Bradford. 

Mr. Dalton’s approval of her industry of the past 
day made her still more satisfied. 

“You are doing better than I thought possible, 
Miss Hilda,” he told her, looking over the sketches 

and calculations she showed him. “ For a girl who 

148 


A CHANGE OF HEART 


has only been at it about a fortnight, you’ve done 
wonders. Jean will have to step lively to get ahead 
of you. I told her so when we ran down to the 
Hartford gardens, but she didn’t seem worried. 
Either she’s very generous or very sure of her own 
ability to get there.” 

Hilda laughed. “Jean’s awfully clever,” she 
said earnestly. “ She won’t have to half try.” 

Nevertheless, the kind words added to her happi¬ 
ness and she went to meet Jack in a more friendly 
mood than when they had parted. 

“ Did you have a good time? ” she asked as he 
met her. “Was it a success? ” 

He smiled at her genially. “ Was it? ” he 
echoed. “ Well, rather. We took in over three 
hundred dollars in that little hall. The music was 
great, too. A fellow with a fiddle that was the 
best ever, and a girl at the piano, well, she could 
play. Aren’t you going to get out? I thought we 
were to lunch here? ” 

An impulse made Hilda shake her head. “ Let’s 
go to the ‘ Green Parrot,’ ” she suggested. “ It’s 
just a bit farther down and it’s awfully cozy,—fixed 
up all in cool green linen for summer, you know.” 

He got in and they started. They were half¬ 
way down the block when he spoke. “ Well, I’ve 
seen your wonderful Mrs. Bradford,” he remarked 
casually. 


149 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

Hilda turned eagerly. “ What do you think of 
her? ” she asked. 4 |fiv- .8*1 )bnovf 

His reply was brief and emphatic, delivered with 
a convincing nod of the head. 

<l7/n RpkJ ” > i-'.UOTMD’i' v *nv isrfflSE 

» 1 v/ J v/ J. A J 'j* v 1‘ * 1 •- r *- '■ * ^ ■ 

Hilda almost bounced off the seat. Her face 

flushed and her eves flashed. All the blood within 

•> 

her rose in one hot flame of resentment. ; ? v 

“ How can you speak of her like that? ” she cried. 
“She’s far, far better than anyone you can know, 
and she’s perfectly beautiful and patriotic and un¬ 
selfish,—why, there isn’t another soul who gives so 
much time and money as she,—no, not even Mother. 
You needn’t look at me that way, for it’s true. 
Mother does take lots of time for teas and things, 
while Mrs. Bradford works all the time for the 
country and the destitute. She’s almost a saint, 
and I won’t listen to such horrid things about her! ” 
Jack listened to the end of her tirade and then he 
whistled a soft note of surprise. “All right, all 
right,” he returned dryly. “ Just as you say. You 
know best, of course,” and not another word would 

he utter, much to her disgust. It was impossible to 

* 

argue with a person who would not reply. 

They passed the “ Green Parrot ” without seeing 
it, but she drew up a block farther down. She 
spoke with crushing calmness. “ I believe I shan’t 

have time for lunch with you to-day after all. We 

150 


A CHANGE OF HEART 


# f 1 I - I 

grown-up people have many duties that you boys 
can’t understand. I shall ask you to have a good 

• t ' * * V ‘ ! _ > 

luncheon wherever you choose. Where shall I take 
you,—the Ritz or the Cheshire?” 


He did not seem at all discomposed by her 
change of plans. “ I’ll try the Automat,” he re¬ 
sponded evenly. “ Good food and plenty of it. 
Exercise while you feed. You ought to recom¬ 


mend it to that concert leader of Mrs. Bradford’s, 
Cousin Hilda. She’s putting on flesh something 
scandalous,—she could hardly get up on the stage 


this morning.” 


'id, 


L>3i 


'IdJfll 11 


Although this absurd shaft rankled, Hilda gave 
no sign. She swept him up to the ornamental por¬ 


tals of his chosen dining place with silent dexterity. 
Then she munificently drew a two-dollar note from 
her pocket and handed it to him in the sight of the 
passers-by. “ Get anything you want,” she told 
him in her most elderly tone. 


Jack looked at it a moment before he took it. 


Then he pocketed it deliberately. “ You’re aw¬ 
fully kind, I am sure,” he said elaborately, bowing 
in the most ceremonious manner. 

He turned and disappeared into the lunch rooms. 

• » ♦ | * «r v *• * » , i t * 

Hilda drove slowly home, her annoyance at what 
she termed Jack’s impertinence growing. Even 
the prospect of an afternoon to be spent in search 
of materials for the color combination for Mrs. 

i5 1 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

Bradford’s room did not do much to lighten her 
mood. 

“ I simply can’t forgive him for such injustice,” 
she told herself firmly, and she felt entirely justi¬ 
fied in her decision. 

An hour or two later, when Jack returned with 
an offer to clean the car, she met him with cool dig¬ 
nity. She thanked him, but declined. Her ex¬ 
treme politeness had its effect on Jack. 

“ See here, Cousin Hilda,” he began rather un¬ 
comfortably. “ About that telegram-” 

“ I am not at all interested,” she interposed loft¬ 
ily. “As you pointed out, it is entirely your own 
affair.” 

He flushed but made no reply for a moment, and 
then he said in a low tone, “ Perhaps I’d better try 
a week at Williams’. They’ve been wanting me, 
you know, and maybe you’ll get over your hump by 
that time.” 

The insinuation that their unfriendliness was of 
her own making was too much for Hilda’s patience. 
She faced him with firm lips. 

“ I cannot allow you to leave until Mother comes 
home,” she announced with authority. “ I am re¬ 
sponsible for you until then, I believe, and I insist 
that you stay right here. It may be very disagree¬ 
able to you but you will have to put up with it.” 

To her surprise he seemed relieved. “All right,” 

152 



A CHANGE OF HEART 

he agreed readily. “ I’ll stay.” He added, with a 
swift change of tone, “ I won’t bother you any more 
than I can help, though. Don’t think it.” 

His spurt of spirit clinched the matter. They 
separated in chilly silence and Hilda went to her 
tour of the stores with a conviction that her moth¬ 
er’s judgment as to Jack had been seriously at 
fault. “ He’s a perfect young imp at heart, just as 
I feared,” she said crisply. “And I had begun to 
think she might be right, after all.” 

She had rather good luck in locating the needed 
materials, and then went to report to Mrs. Brad¬ 
ford. Here again she was fortunate in finding her 
friend at home. She was lovely in a beautiful em¬ 
broidered kimono with her monogram on the sleeve, 
an idea of her own, as she told Hilda. 

“ I got two of them at Harkin’s and sent one to 
my dear old friend in Boston,” she said. “ They 
are wonderful pieces of silk and rather cheap, too. 
But what have you here? It looks like the makings 
of a whole houseful of beauty. Is it for my little 
room? ” 

Hilda explained and asked for criticism, but 
Mrs. Bradford waved her off, laughing. “ I told 
vou, vou cautious creature, that I wouldn’t be con- 
suited,” she declared. “ No, not even the color. I 
leave it all absolutely to you. Get what you will 
within reason and bring the bills to me at once. 

153 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

All I ask is to pay the bills. If I think they are 
getting too steep, you may be sure I’ll tell you so.” 

The contrast between this generosity and Jack’s 
verdict smote Hilda most keenly as she thought it 
over on the way home. It was the rank injustice 
of it that hurt her, she told herself. Injustice was 
always hateful, no matter how it might be softened 
or disguised. qmi gfir/ov tefhoq j> i JIubI 

So when she met Jack exercising his bony, feeble 
steed at a gentle walk on the road past the woods 
she did not melt as she might have earlier ill the 
day. She merely nodded and drove on into the 
Grey Cot gate without a single backward glance. 

There was a strange car slowing down at the 
front of the house and a tall, thin young man got 
out and went toward the front door. Hilda 
hastened to meet him before he had reached the 
bell. 

He turned, bowing and taking off his stiff straw 
hat in a ceremonious way. He was a blonde and 
very serious. From the car two freckled boys 
of about fourteen and sixteen stared openly at 
MMmotiho 10I Imkn ban hmMqxs bMiH 
<£ I have a note from Mrs. Williams,” the young 
man said in a very precise manner. “ It is for Miss 
Hilda Hare. Regarding Mr. Jack Hastings,” and 
he bowed agaimO uov of ^bfuloada lie il svbsI 
Oh,” said Hilda in surprise as she held out her 

154 


(c 


A CHANGE OF HEART 

hand for the note. “From Mrs. Williams? I 


don’t think I quite know who she is.” As soon as 
the words were out of her mouth she blushed for 
her awkwardness. “ I mean,” she added hastily, 
“that I have heard Jack speak of the two boys, 
but I thought they were at a camp with their 


tutor.” 


HI 


yod :>fii !; 


\vrA 




>00 f 


The young man bowed again. “ I have that 
honor,” he replied sedately. “ But the camp is 
quite near Stonecroft, the home of Mrs. Williams, 
and she visits her sons daily* She does not take a 
vacation from her duties as a mother. She has 


written her desires to you, I believe.” 

Hilda smiled at the boys and at the serious young 
man. “ If you will come in,” she began, and added 
at the consternation on the three faces, “ or if you 
will let me read Mrs. Williams’ letter right here, I 
can see if a reply is needed,” and she tore the en¬ 
velope, while the tutor once more bowed and the 
boys stared harder than ever. 

Jack appeared as she began the little note and 
the two boys woke from their tranced attention to 
Hilda, jumping out of the car and rushing to him 
with loud greetings and explanations of their visit. 
He knew what they had come for quite as soon as 
did Hilda. And he seemed to be very glad they 
had put in their appearance at this moment. 

“ I’ll go, all right, if Cousin Hilda says so,” she 

i55 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


heard him tell the older boy, and she could not resist 
flashing a look to see how he really seemed to feel 
about it. He looked serene as usual and he was 
plainly glad to see the boys. 

Hilda folded Mrs. Williams’ kind note. She 
spoke to the tutor. “ What sort of clothes will he 
need? ” she asked, and the boys knew that Jack’s 
visit was assured. They raced off together to his 
room, where the tutor followed on Hilda’s sugges¬ 
tion, and their voices could be heard ringing joy¬ 
fully out on the pleasant summer air, wrangling 
over needed articles and arguing excitedly about 
equipment. Then they all came down again, stiff¬ 
ening into propriety as they reached the summer¬ 
house where she waited. 

She caught Jack’s voice in the rear of the little 
procession, and it held a note of reproach. “ What 
did you write that telegram out so plain for? ” he 
asked. “ I’d have made it-” 

The other boy snickered, but his reply was lost in 
the farewells and in the confusion of stowing Jack’s 
belongings and themselves away in the car. After 
he had gone and the car was only a point on the dis¬ 
tant road, she turned to the back precincts. In the 
hurry Jack must have forgotten to give any in¬ 
structions about his animals. She went to the back 
door, where Martha and John could be seen in the 
kitchen, talking together. 

156 



A CHANGE OF HEART 


Martha cried out as she saw Hilda at the step. 
She came forward with a green dollar note in her 
hand. 

“Ah, I’ve said many a time that he’s got the kind 
heart,” she said warmly. “And look at this he 
gave me just now. And him taken aback as you 
may say, by surprise. It’s not many a young gen¬ 
tleman would have remembered his pets or any¬ 
thing at such a time.” 

John nodded over her shoulder. “ I’ll see to the 
snakes and the horse, too, Miss Hilda,” he remarked 
solemnly. “You don’t need to think of them, I do 
assure you. He’s left enough to pay for all that’s 
needed for a good two weeks. I’ll see to them, in¬ 
deed I will.” 

Hilda pondered these things as she went to Her 
room to make ready for her lonely dinner, which she 
had decided to have in the summer-house. She 
thought of Jack’s verdict on Esther Marie and she 
laughed. She recalled his tenderness to the poor, 
helpless creatures he had befriended and she soft¬ 
ened toward him. But when his verdict upon Mrs. 
Bradford came to her mind she shook her head im¬ 
patiently. 

“ Of course he likes animals,—all boys do,” she 
thought. “And of course he doesn’t like girls of 
his own age,—no boy does. But for a young snip 
like him to say such things about an adorable per- 

i57 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

son like Mrs. Bradford is absolutely too much to be 
tolerated.” 

She brushed her fluffy hair with great energy. 
“No, it’s not to be tolerated,” she said emphatic¬ 
ally. “ When he comes back he will simply have to 
retract that horrid speech, or-” 

She did not say what would happen if Jack did 
not change his mind, but it was clear she meant to 
be very positive in her course with that young per¬ 
son. Suddenly her face lighted up. 

“ What a fine chance to work like a perfect de¬ 
mon on that room for the Hampton! ” she said ju¬ 
bilantly. “ I do believe I’ll postpone asking Page 
to-morrow,—Jack’s sure to stay longer than he 
thinks. That will give me a free foot. And I do 
so want to get it done soon. If I work all the time 
on it I ought to have it ready when Mrs. Bradford 
has her other things in shape to move in.” 



CHAPTER XI 


REALITIES 

The next few days were very busy ones for 
Hilda. She plunged into the arrangement of Mrs. 
Bradford’s little room with her whole heart. She 
drew and matched and altered her plan until, one 
morning when she showed it to Mr. Dalton, he told 
her it was as well as she might hope to do. 

That was the real starting point. 

After that morning she went to work with re¬ 
doubled ardor. She made a careful study of the 
price and quality of the goods required and sub¬ 
mitted the total to the laughing Mrs. Bradford, 
with whom she spent many of her odd minutes in 
this fervid chase for effects. That lady, just as 
usual, waved the paper from her. 

“ Get what you need and bring the bills,” she in¬ 
sisted. “ When you’ve reached the five-hundred 
mark, let me know. I trust you absolutely.” 

Hilda was still much flattered, but now she was a 
bit perplexed. She had begun to buy some few 
articles with her own money, but they were so few 
and the amount so small that she blushed to men- 

i59 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


tion them to the lavish Mrs. Bradford. She left 
her friend in a rather puzzled state that day. She 
went home and got out her account book. 

“ It’s only three weeks and a couple of days,” 
she thought, tapping her pen against her teeth idly 
as her eye ran down the column of expenses. “ I’ve 
kept inside my allowance, as far as my own things 
are concerned. But that curtain stuff just about 
cleaned me out. I’ve only two dollars left for the 
rest of the month. I don’t know-” 

She sat staring at the book while her mind ran 
over her resources. If she wanted to go on with 
Mrs. Bradford’s room,—and she was very sure she 
did,—she must spend much more money,—where 
was it to come from? 

She sighed as she faced the alternatives. She 
might frankly tell her friend that she needed an ad¬ 
vance. That would be horrid. She might use the 
household money and refund when Mrs. Bradford 
paid her. She shrank from this course at once and 
forever,—if she could not manage on her own hook, 
she would give it all up. There was a third way, 
however, and that looked fairly sure to her. 

“ I’ll do it,” she said firmly. “ I’ll get the goods 
on my own account at the stores,—I’ll have a sepa¬ 
rate one now, anyway. And I’ll be responsible. 
Mrs. Bradford will pay me as soon as I ask her. 
It’s perfectly safe.” 

160 



REALITIES 


She felt much relieved and the next day she 
opened her account with Harkin’s, and Smith and 
Sons. She needed only wall paper, draperies and 
curtains as yet. She made her first purchases and 
sent them home, feeling that she had taken an im¬ 
portant step on her way toward success. “ It’s 
really started now. I wish it were done and I 
could write Mother and Jean and Elizabeth all 
about it,” she thought, as she left the counter. 

She was so deeply interested now that she simply 
could not spare a moment for other things. Her 
mornings,—three a week,—with Mr. Dalton and 
her afternoons spent in the shops, in her own room, 
and with an occasional visit to the room in Mrs. 
Bradford’s flat in the Hampton Row so filled her 
time that she forgot to be lonely, forgot Page Car¬ 
ter, forgot everything that was not part of her task 
as Interior Decorator. 

She haunted all the art shops. She knew where 
the daintiest porcelains and rarest fabrics were to 
be had. And when Mr. Dalton again compli¬ 
mented her on her progress she laughed happily, 
telling him to remember the donkey and the bunch 
of hay. Her whole mind was set on her work and 
she missed only those who might help her in that 
line. 

“ I wish Esther Marie and her family had not 

gone off to the Canadian Rockies just as we got 

161 



HILDA OF GREY COT 


acquainted/’ she thought. “ That house might 
have been an inspiration. However, I’ve chosen 
my colors and accessories and I’d have to stick to 
them. I hope I can have the room finished before 
Mother gets back, though.” 

She pictured her triumph, and it was very sweet 
to her. The partnership was within her grasp. 
She sorely needed a confidant, though, and longed 
for her freedom of speech again. When she would 
be released from her promise to Page Carter and 
when the room was done, she would never, never, 
never have another secret. 

She rose and yawned. Mechanically she went to 
the window, for the dear, familiar view of lawn and 
garden and thicket, and the glimpse of wood-road 
beyond. She looked absently, her mind not on the 
scene but on her account book. 

“ It’s queer how money shrinks,” she thought, 
uneasily. “ It looks twice as much before you get 
it in your own hands. That hundred looked pretty 
big to me,—before I got it.” 

Something moving among the trees on the wood- 
road drew her attention from the dismal subject of 
finance. It was John leading Jack’s poor horse 
slowly up and down. A blue-plaid fly-sheet cov¬ 
ered the animal from withers to tail but its outlines 
showed plainly under the thin linen cover. Hilda 

had a brief picture of a drooping head, a series of 

162 


REALITIES 


acute angles and a long, thin black tail. Then the 
two figures passed out of sight and the sound of the 
stable gate came a moment after. 

“ Poor old wreck, he’ll never be any better, for 
all John says,” she thought. “ That plan of his to 
give him such a little bit to eat doesn’t seem to 
work. I believe if a person’s been starved they 
need good food and plenty of it. Jack will be fear¬ 
fully disappointed in him when he comes back.” 

Then suddenly, unaccountably, the thought of 
Page stung her sharply. It was more than a week 
since Jack left, and she had not seen her in all that 
time. She glanced at the clock. She still had time 
to reach Watson’s if she hurried and she might per¬ 
suade Page to come out at once. She flew down to 
the garage and was off in a jiffy. 

The bored girl with the side-bobs hardly looked 
at her this time. She was plainly resolved not to 
encourage Hilda’s troublesome habit of asking for 
Miss Carter when Miss Carter was not there. She 
threw a note of utter weariness into her voice as she 
said, “ Been off for three days. No, she hasn’t left. 
Sick,” and she turned to the saleswoman next 
and began a lively account of the last night’s 
dance. 

Hilda went off in a whirl of contrition. She for¬ 
got the speed laws and was in Page’s suburb in a 

shorter time than she had ever made it before. 

163 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

The shabby house looked rather better than be¬ 
fore. The geraniums in front of the porch and the 
honeysuckle on its jig-saw pillars gave a touch of 
brightness and a whiff of sweet odor that cheered 
Hilda greatly. She felt that Page could not be so 
very ill or the place would have looked sadder than 
it did. 

A tired woman in draggled white answered her 
eager ring. 

“ Miss Carter? ” she repeated. “ Oh, yes, I re¬ 
member seeing you before. You brought her home 
in your automobile a couple of times, didn’t you? ” 

Hilda broke in on her rambling speech. “ I have 
just heard that she is ill and I’ve come to see her,” 
she interposed. “ May I go up-stairs at once? ” 

The woman looked at her with a troubled air. 
“You may go up if you wish,” she replied vaguely. 
“ But she isn’t there. She’s in the hospital.” 

“In the hospital?” echoed Hilda blankly. 
“ What hospital? When did she go?” 

“ The Hoffman—and yesterday,” responded the 
woman. “ She just would go. She said I had too 
much on my hands with Ben’s rheumatism and my 
mother bedfast with paralysis. I didn’t want her 
to leave, but she just would go.” 

“ What is the matter with her? ” Hilda managed 
to ask. She was shocked at the picture of real dis¬ 
tress called up by the woman’s words, and she was 

164 


REALITIES 


touched, too, by the genuine kindness of the bur¬ 
dened, patient woman. “ Is she very ill? ” 

“ I don't really know,” the other answered doubt¬ 
fully. 4 4 She kept fainting at first and then she got 
pretty sick, and the doctor said she’d better be taken 
off my hands. But he said it was nothing serious. 
That’s all I know about it. I am going over to¬ 
morrow to see her. I haven’t had a chance yet.” 

Hilda left with some murmured hopes as to 
Page’s condition and the rapid improvement of the 
patients in the small, shabby house. She hardly 
heard the voluble replies that answered her, nor did 
she notice the geraniums and the honeysuckles as 
she went down the steps of the little porch. The 
place had lost its happy look and seemed indescrib¬ 
ably sad and forlorn. 

44 Page in a hospital all alone/’ she thought, with 
a great rush of pity and affection. 44 Oh, it seems 
too hard for her,—she’s so gentle and dainty and 
sweet. I can’t go to her now, but I’ll fly there the 
first minute I’ve changed and had a bite at home.” 

As she drove through the summer-time fragrance 
of the roads leading to her own section she sighed 
deeply. 

44 Poor Page, I’ll have to find out what she needs 
and see that she gets it. It’s too horrid for her to 
be ill and alone in this weather! ” 

She had another surprise when she reached home. 

165 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

Jean was waiting for her in the lounging chair 
under the lindens. 

“ Jean,” she cried, hurrying to her with out¬ 
stretched hands. “ How lovely to find you here. 
I was just getting a bit blue, and I hated to think 
of another dinner alone. You’ve come to stay a 
while, haven’t you? ” 

Jean responded to her welcome with more 
warmth than usual, but she shook her head. “ I’m 
going at once,” she said. “ I had to see you before 
I left. I knew you’d want to know.” 

There was something about her that stopped 
Hilda’s laughing questions about landscape gar¬ 
dening. She put an eager hand on Jean’s *arm. 
“ It isn’t Hal? ” she asked anxiously. 

Jean nodded. “ Yes, it’s Hal,” she answered in 
a low tone. “ We’ve been cabling forever, it seems 
to me, though it’s only been three days. And 
Mother has made all the arrangements. We’re go¬ 
ing over; we sail to-morrow.” 

Hilda could only look her question. Jean under¬ 
stood. “ He’s alive,” she replied, in an even tone 
that hid her pain. “ He wants to come home. 
Uncle Will is there, you know, and he’s arranged 
everything. He has lots of influence and he says 
he’ll bring Hal to Havre, where we will meet him 
and bring him home if-” She hesitated for a 

second and then went on, “ Mother wants to see 

166 



REALITIES 

him, of course, as soon as she can. So we sail to¬ 
morrow.” 

Hilda put her arm around her and they stood 
silent for a brief moment. Each knew the other’s 
heart. Jean’s twin brother was very dear to Hilda, 
for the three had grown up an inseparable trio. 
During the two years Hal had been with the Amer¬ 
ican forces abroad the two girls had watched and 
hoped together and when he had come back, after 
the armistice, the trio had celebrated with great re¬ 
joicings. Since his enlistment in the Polish flying 
squadron they had had many an anxious moment 
and Hilda’s first question after a separation had 
always been for Hal. 

Jean stood with her head bent and her hand tight 
in Hilda’s. The happy birds were singing all 
about them and the distant laughter of playing chil¬ 
dren came floating on the perfumed air. The or¬ 
dered peaceful beauty of the little garden suddenly 
smote Hilda into speech. 

“ Oh, it can’t be true,” she cried. “ War and 
destruction and greed, all there in the outside 
world! When will it stop,—when will people stop 
being brutes and learn to be human beings again ? ” 

Jean raised her head. Her face was white and 
her eyes were full of pain. “ Sometimes I think it 
will go on until every single person in the world has 

suffered enough to learn to be kind to others,” she 

167 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


said slowly. “And then again, I think God will 

show us the way suddenly, in some great miracle of 

love. I don’t know-” Then she came back to 

her every-day self and added, “ You’d like to send 

a line to Hal, wouldn’t you? I’ll wait a bit while 

vou write.” 

%/ 

Hilda hesitated. She wanted to know more. 
“ If you could tell me just how he is,” she began. 

Jean nodded. She told Hilda that Hal’s plane 
had been hit and the engine smashed while he was 
flying alone. He had managed to land within the 
lines but had crashed in a small woods. He was 
badly injured and he had lain unattended for some 
hours. A heavy rain had come up and when at 
last they had found him, he was unconscious. From 
the first it had seemed impossible to save him. Ex¬ 
posure and injuries had wrecked his strength. 
“You know he was slightly gassed in the Ar- 
gonne,” Jean ended. “And mustard gas never lets 
up. He’d have been all right if he hadn’t been 
soaked for hours,—or so Uncle Will thinks. But 
Hal always said he’d rather go out doing something 
that counted than to drag along for an eternity like 
a tame tabby.” 

Her tone was so exactly that of Hal in the old 
gay days that they both smiled. Hilda flung up 
her head. “ That’s the only way for a man to feel,” 

she said with her face alight. “ If the kings of the 

168 




REALITIES 

world are to bring their glory and honor into that 
other world, it won’t be the crowned and sceptered 
royalties of the earth. It’ll be the ones like Hal,— 
kings of their own destiny, rulers of the dear coun¬ 
try of brotherly kindness. Oh, Jean, our hearts 
will break for him, but he’s going out with shining 
banners of victory! ” 

Jean tried to smile, but she could not. Hilda’s 
tears were streaming in a blinding rain. She 
caught unseeing at the outstretched hand and the 
two girls clung together in silent, rending grief. 
The age-old pang of woman lamenting her slain 
warrior was shared by each in that sunny tranquil 
garden while the birds sang and children laughed. 

Jean was the first to speak. She dropped Hilda’s 
hands and moved to the lounging chair again. 
“ You’ll have to rush, you know,” she said, with 
almost her old drawl. “ I’ve only got about five 
minutes. We’re leaving on the six-forty for 
town.” 

Hilda, mopping her eyes, rushed. She ran to 
the library and wrote a few cheerful, loving lines, 
which she showed to Jean when she rejoined her on 
the lawn. Jean nodded, and took the note. At 
the door of her car she paused. 

“ He may not be so sick as we fear, you know,” 
she said. “ I’ll cable the moment I see him. Uncle 

Will always makes a fuss. Don’t tell your mother 

169 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


till she comes back. We’ll be apt to come straight 
back, if Uncle Will’s on time.” 

She was gone with a brisker wave than usual and 
Hilda turned to the long chair beneath the lindens. 
She simply could not go indoors just yet. She 
went over to the pantry window where Martha’s 
head was seen and ordered a tray in the summer¬ 
house. Food seemed repulsive to her. Her throat 
was aching and her heart was very sore. 

She lay back in the long chair staring up into the 
green bower of the lindens, and she thought of the 
old days with Jean and Hal. Many pictures came 
before her and always they showed Hal generous 
and brave, even when he teased and played tricks 
on them. The memories came thronging thickly 
and some made her smile. Gradually Jean’s hope¬ 
ful words worked their way into the fabric of her 
thoughts. She sat up with her face clearing. A 
belief in Hal’s proverbial good luck came to her 
relief. 

“ I don’t believe it’s as bad as Mr. Weston 
thinks,” she said with conviction. “Hal simply 
isn’t going to die yet a while. Wonderful cures are 
made nowadays. And Mrs. MacAllister will have 
everything possible done for him. No, Hal isn’t 
going to leave us, after all. When that cable comes, 
we’ll see.” 

She went back to her solitary meal greatly com- 

170 


REALITIES 


forted by her prophecy and she ate every bit of the 
dainty little supper Martha had made for her. The 
book on Wall Decoration which she had left that 
morning in the summer-house caught her eye as 
John removed the tray, and she put an anxious 
question to him. It seemed that, in spite of her 
will to the contrary, this day was one of many shad¬ 
ows, some large like Jean’s news and Page’s illness, 
and some small like the memory of the account book 
up-stairs. 

“ Yes, miss, the packages come before you 
did,” replied John. “ I put ’em in the breakfast- 
room.” 

“ Quite right, John,” answered Hilda absently. 

She went at once to the little room and gathered 
the amazingly small parcels in her arms. She knew 
exactly how large the bills were and the contrast be¬ 
tween the length of the account at Harkin’s and the 
weight of the packages made her sigh. After she 
had opened and admired the goods,—lovely soft 
terra cotta raw silks and tissues of the same faint 
color, she laid them in the bottom of her long chest. 
The bills she stuck in the second pigeonhole in her 
desk. 

Then she sat down by the window and felt very, 
very lonely. 

“And I’m all beset by promises,” she thought 

ruefully. “ I can’t tell Mother about Hal. I 

i/i 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

can’t tell anyone about the room. And I can’t tell 
anyone about Page. I wish, oh, I wish-” 

She hesitated. It was flinging her good, clear 
judgment to the winds, but, somehow, that quarter 
of an hour with Jean had made her less sure of her¬ 
self. She took a deep breath and then she spoke 
her wish. 

“If Jack were only here, he’d understand,” she 
said. Even the dim memory of his criticism of her 
new friend did not trouble her. She felt that Jack 
would be a great comfort just now. “ He doesn’t 
fuss and talk,” she added. “ He’d understand. 
‘ Faithful unto death,’—that’s what Hal has been, 
too. Oh, why must everything be so twisted up all 
at once? ” 

She got up slowly. She knew she must find 
Page at once. “ Or I’ll be sorrier than ever,” she 
said, sighing. “ If I’d only gone over sooner. She 
might not have gotten ill if she’d been here.” 

She hurried down and got a store of jelly and 
fruit and flowers stowed in the car. And then she 
went back to the house for a couple of new maga¬ 
zines. The twilight was falling and she felt more 
lonely than ever. She would have asked John to 
go with her but she remembered it was his night out. 

“ I’ll have to go it alone,” she said. “ It serves 
me right. I wanted time to myself and now I’ve 
got it.” 



CHAPTER XII 


A FRIEND IN NEED 

As she went toward the garage she remembered 
two letters for Jack which she had left forgotten 
since luncheon and she went back to redirect them 
for the evening mail. She knew he would not re¬ 
turn for a few more days and might prolong his 
stay with the Williams’ still further. 

“ He’ll be back for the dance, though,” she 
thought, as she put them again on the hall table for 
John. “ Field Day, too, has too much charm for 
him to miss,—Janey Sloan has seen to that.” 

She went slowly across the lawn thinking she 
would be very glad when the end of the week should 
bring him. In her moments of intense loneliness 
she had known how good the sight of his queer 
friendly light eyes would be. The faces of the old 
crowd which she had renounced for the time being 
in her pursuit of self-interest rose before her in the 
twilight; good, friendly, sincere faces, all of them. 
Her heart warmed to them. And then for no rea¬ 
son in the world, in one of those involuntary mental 
flashes, the face of Mrs. Bradford, with its lovely, 

173 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

long-lashed eyes and perfect nose came vividly after 
the rest. Why was it that she did not seem to fit in 
with the others? 

“ She’s perfectly sweet, though,” she said aloud. 

“ Is that so? ” cried a voice behind her. 

She started and turned to face Jack. A little 
glad cry burst from her lips and she flung herself 
toward him with both arms wide. “ Oh, it’s you! " 
she cried. “ Oh, Jack! ” 

He grinned, kissed her ear in return for her ar¬ 
dent salute and then released her. He was looking 
very well and he was bursting with his news,—quite 
a contrast to his usual quiet self. He had quite for¬ 
gotten their parting coolness and she was very glad 
to leave it to oblivion. 

“ Had a dandy time every minute,” he said, 
standing before her as she dropped into the low 
chair under the lindens. “ Got a lot of fish, and no 
end of good swimming up there. We were in the 
water two and three hours every day. And fun!— 
well, after we went back to Williams’ bungalow we 
had the time of our sad old lives. Tennis matches 
and all sorts of stunts, and, say, Cousin Hilda, you 
ought to have seen me in the play we gave. I was 
the cutest ever. I had the girl’s part and I dressed 
up and acted like Janey Sloan, and I certainly was 
a peach.” 

Hilda laughed at his earnestness. “ You couldn’t 

i74 



A FRIEND IN NEED 


have fooled me for one minute, Jackie,” she replied. 
“ I can spot a boy in girl’s clothes every time. 
There’s always something that gives them away.” 

“ Is there? ” retorted Jack, rather ruffled. 
“ Well, there wasn’t a single soul in the whole 
bunch that dreamed I wasn’t a girl. Some of the 
fellows were as soft as the dickens, and that proves 
it. They thought I was a real one, and they aren’t 
so stupid.” 

“ But I shouldn’t,” Hilda insisted gaily. “ I’d 
have known you. I always can recognize people 
through any disguise.” 

Jack flushed. “All right, you’ll see,” he prophe¬ 
sied with a nod. “ I’ll put it over you some day. 
Just wait.” He nodded again firmly and then 
threw the subject aside with a gesture. “ How’s 
Bonaparte? ” he asked in quite another tone. “ Is 
he picking up much? Is he fit to drive yet? ” 

“ He’s creeping about very slowly, poor thing,” 
replied Hilda regretfully. “ He doesn’t seem to 
get on. I wish you’d get John to feed him bet¬ 
ter -” 

Her last words were spoken to the empty air. 
Jack, leaving suitcases and fishing-rods on the 
grass, had disappeared in the direction of the barn. 
Hilda waited for his return, thinking to try to con¬ 
sole him for the disappointment he must feel. Her 
thoughtfulness was wasted, however, for in a few 

i75 



HILDA OF GREY COT 

minutes he came back with buoyant step, rubbing 
his hands in great satisfaction. 

“ He’s getting on finely, finely,” he cried. “ He’s 
pretty thin yet, but he’s beginning to show his keep. 
John’s doing the right thing. And I tell you, 
Cousin Hilda, that horse has blood! ” 

He did not in the least care that Hilda smiled at 
his boasting. He took her teasing with great good 
humor, but he stuck to his rejoicings with the ardor 
of fifteen. “Talk about machines!” he said con¬ 
temptuously. “ Give me a horse,—a good-blooded 
horse-” 

“ You’re quite welcome to him to-day,” laughed 
Hilda rising. “ I’ve got to stick to the miserable 
machine, alas! I’m afraid Bonaparte isn’t quite up 
to a trip to the Hoffman Hospital. I’ll have to be 
off, too, for it’s getting on. I don’t suppose you 
could come down to riding in my poor little car, or 
I’d ask you to go along.” 

Jack looked at the bunch of flowers that were al¬ 
ready on the seat of the car, and at the small basket 
of fruit, and at the pile of magazines that Hilda 
had managed to collect from the library table. 
“ Someone you know in hard luck? ” he asked. 
“Not anyone-” 

“ No, it isn’t Janey nor Esther Marie, nor yet 
Mrs. Bradford,” she told him lightly, recalling that 

he had not met Page after all. “ But you can go 

176 




A FRIEND IN NEED 


along, if you don’t mind waiting outside. I shan’t 
be long, I fancy.” 

Jack accepted at once. He was keen on hos¬ 
pitals, he told her, and he’d like to see the operating 
room, if it wasn’t in use. He might be a doctor 
some day and he liked to collect information. 
“Hospitals are dandy places,” he said seriously. 
“ I had a great time at the Wharton when my leg 
was broken last year. And then, too, you don’t 
bother the people at home, you know. Is this Miss 
Carter the one at the Red Cross? I’ve seen her at 
the club once or twice.” 

Hilda explained that her Miss Carter was quite 
another, and that she did not know her very well,— 
that was all she felt safe in saying. There was no 
knowing what secrecy Page would demand of her. 
She would have even preferred leaving Jack in the 
car, but when they reached the hospital, he followed 
her into the entrance-hall and waited aside while she 
made her inquiries. 

As she left the desk and turned to follow the or¬ 
derly, he started forward, with an anxious look at 
her troubled face. “Anything up? ” he questioned, 
but he understood by her decided shake of the head 
that he was not needed, and he went back to the 
desk to make his own inquiries as to the operating 
room and accident wards. 

It was not any bad news of Page’s condition that 

1 77 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

disturbed Hilda as she made her way along the 
spotless white corridors with their all-pervading 
odor of ether and drugs. It was the fact that she 
had been told that Page Carter was to be found in 
the Free Ward! 

She had not thought of such a thing. Everyone 
she knew had been in pretty private rooms, and the 
possibility of the Free Ward had not even been 
dimly shadowed in her mind. Page Carter in the 
Free Ward! 

When the door opened and she stood inside, look¬ 
ing down the long, bright room, she recoiled before 
the publicity of it,—the double row of small white 
beds, the low buzz of voices, the many faces turned 
curiously toward her. Page Carter, who had stood 
for dainty aloofness, for reserve and dignity, here 
among this motley assembly of human wretched¬ 
ness! The sharp sting of the pity of it brought 
sudden tears to her eyes. 

The nurse who came forward to meet her an¬ 
swered her low questions with punctilious exact¬ 
ness. Yes, there was a Miss Carter at the other 
end of the ward—in that last bed by the window. 
She was doing quite nicely. Had had a light case 
of pneumonia, but was quite on the mend. She 
was resting well, in fact was asleep now, and it 
might be better if her friend could call to-morrow. 

The hours for the Free Ward were limited and she 

178 




A FRIEND IN NEED 

could only have a few minutes with Miss Carter at 
any rate. 

Hilda heard the words, but the thing that struck 
her into sudden silence was the fact that Page Car¬ 
ter was asleep, here, here, with all the restless mur- 
murings of so many other sufferers about her. 

She gave her card to the nurse and found her 
voice. “ Please tell her I have brought her these 
and that I’ll come again to-morrow,” she said 
tremulously, handing the flowers and other things 
into the willing hands of the interested young 
woman. 

She went back to the desk and got her informa¬ 
tion in an incredibly short time. There was a va¬ 
cant room,—a small one with a big window,—on 
the western side of the hospital which could be had 
for four dollars a day. The semi-free wards, con¬ 
taining four beds, were three and a half. Hilda 
shuddered at the mention of four beds. And yet 
she hesitated. 

“ If I only knew how long Page would be ill,” 
she thought in perplexity. “ I wish I hadn’t 
promised to be so secret. I’d have telephoned 
Mother-” 

The clerk was tapping her pencil on the book 
suggestively and Hilda knew she must come to 
some decision. “ Can I reserve it while I think it 
over? ” she asked with a troubled brow. “ There 

1 79 




HILDA OF GREY COT 


are some things I have to consider.” She wanted to 
count her resources more calmly than she could with 
the clerk’s keen eye upon her. “ I could telephone, 
perhaps.” 

“ Before seven? ” The clerk was brief and busi¬ 
nesslike. “ I go off duty at seven. I’ll make the 
reservation until then.” She jotted it down on her 
pad and Hilda felt herself dismissed. 

Jack appeared as she gained the outer lobby. 
He glanced at her disturbed face but said nothing. 
He was really wonderfully considerate for a boy, 
Hilda thought, and she motioned to him to drive 
for her, so that she might be freer for her mental 
arithmetic. 

Not a word was spoken in all the long way from 
the hospital to the open roads toward home. Hilda 
was counting over and over, with brain and fingers, 
the sum that she might use for the hire of that little 
room on the western side of the Hoffman. 

When they were in the bowery shade of Lovers’ 
Lane, Jack started at the sound of a subdued sniff. 
A look at his cousin told him what the sniff meant. 
Hilda was crying! 

With one hand on tHe wheel he steered slowly 
along the secluded, lonely lane. He put the other 
on Hilda’s shoulder with a very gentle touch. 
“ Why, Cousin Hilda,” he said, “ what’s happened? 
What is it? ” 

180 


A FRIEND IN NEED 


Hilda could not speak. The kindness in his voice 
choked her. Then, suddenly, as she felt him pat¬ 
ting her shoulder in that sedate paternal fashion, 
she melted into open weeping, with her head on his 
bony young shoulder. Between her sobs she man¬ 
aged to tell him all her difficulty. 

“ You see, I can’t pay for the room,” she gulped, 
after she had made matters clear. “ Mother and I 
agreed that I’d have to drop out of the partnership 
if I didn’t square my accounts. I’ll simply have to 
draw on next month’s allowance and drop out now. 
There isn’t any other way.” 

He gave her a final comforting pat. “ Well, you 
don’t have to get the room, you know,” he said 
slowly. “ There’s that way out of it.” 

She shook off his hand and blazed at him with hot 
scorn. “ Don’t have to?” she echoed. “Don’t 
you know that I’d despise and detest myself forever 
if I left Page Carter in that Free Ward? I’ve 
broken my promise to her when I told you about 
her being sick there and having no money, but I’m 
not quite so low-down mean as to hesitate one single 
moment. I was only hopeless about having enough 
to see her through,—she may be ill longer than they 
think and I have other things to pay for.” 

She actually glared at him through her reddened 

lids as she vehemently added, “ I’ll hand Mother 

my resignation to the partnership to-morrow if I 

181 



HILDA OF GREY COT 

must, but I’ll give every cent I have to keep Page 
out of that horrid Free Ward as long as I can.” 

He did not seem to resent her rage. He frowned 
thoughtfully, brought the car to a halt and rum¬ 
maged in his pockets. He laid down a green two- 
dollar note on her knee. “ That’s the one you gave 
me for lunch. I didn’t use it,” he said. On this he 
laid two yellow-backed bills. “ That’s what was 
left after I paid for my birthday present.” He 
went on absently, “Aunt Alice sent a bigger check 
than I needed.” On top of these he put his last 
offering,—an unused railway ticket from Coon 
Lake. “ That’s good for four bucks,” he said, nod¬ 
ding at it. “ Great luck I didn’t have to use it, 
isn’t it? Bought it and then got brought all the 
way in Steven’s car. That’ll fix one day, anyway.” 

“ But—but-” began Hilda weakly. 

He silenced her with a gesture. “You take it 
now and pay me back next,—next year, or any old 
time when you’re making money for yourself,” he 
said firmly. “ I’ve got some change and I’ll man¬ 
age all right. It won’t be long till the eighteenth, 
and your next bunch of cash will fix things ship¬ 
shape. You shan’t resign from that Lady House 
Furnishers just yet, believe me.” 

Hilda could not refuse the sorely needed money, 
but she made her terms of acceptance very clear, in 
spite of her gratitude. 


182 



A FRIEND IN NEED 


“ I’ll only take what I positively must have,” she 
said firmly. “ I’ll pay you back when my allow¬ 
ance comes in, or when,—well, when some other 
money is paid me. I can’t let you spend your 
money on my mistakes,” and then, having told him 
so much, she explained that she had intended invit¬ 
ing Page to Grey Cot but had been too busy. 
“And so she got ill and you have to deny yourself 
to help me. It’s a loan, Jack, remember that.” 

“ All right,” he replied easily. “ I’ve got too 
much anyway. I’m glad to let it work. I 
think-” 

“And while we’re talking about things,” she 
broke in impulsively, “ I want to tell you that I am 
perfectly delighted to have you home again. I 
don’t care how many times you say, 4 Punk,’ I’ll 
never fuss with you again. Mother was right-” 

He interrupted her with a chuckle. “ I knew 
you didn’t care, really,” he remarked comfortably. 
“Let’s can all that stuff and step on the gas for 
home and ’phone. That beauty at the Hoffman 
might take a notion to rent Miss Carter’s room to 
someone else.” 

Hilda cuddled down in the low seat, entirely 
happy in her relief. It was very good to have 
someone,—someone who understood,—take the 
wheel. The friendly silence made her very com¬ 
fortable. She and Jack did not have to talk to 

183 




HILDA OF GREY COT 

each other now. They were real comrades at last. 
Hilda was rather glad she had never written her 
first opinion of Jack to her mother. 

As they turned the curve past Mullen’s Pond, 
Jack nodded to the dim mass of buildings and trees 
of The Pines. “ She’s home, too,” he remarked 
casually. “Saw them on the road as I came along. 
I’d know her red head anywhere.” 

Plilda laughed at his tone. “ You’d like her all 
right if you’d condescend to get acquainted with 
her,” she said. “ She’s really a sensible, nice little 
thing. She’s had her own way a lot, of course, and 
she seems rather peppery at times. But she’s 
clever and generous and-” 

“ Hm-m, quite so,” broke in Jack, in his most 
bored tone. “No doubt she’s a wonder,—only I 
can’t see it yet. Janey Sloan is more the style I 
like, and your Esther Marie girl can’t ever hope to 
grow up like her, I believe. Here’s a good open 
stretch. Watch me step on it.” 

As they dew along the smooth roadway he flung 
one last word to Hilda as the trees and stables of 
Grey Cot flashed into view. 

“You tell that Hoffman fairy that we’ll take the 
room for as long as Miss Carter needs it. I’ll help 
you out as far as you like, and we won’t gab any 
more about that end of it,” he said. “ Here we 

are,” he ended, as they whirled the last corner. 

184 



A FRIEND IN NEED 

“ Step lively, please, Miss Carter’s waiting, you 
know.” 

Hilda ran in to the telephone with all her fore¬ 
bodings gone. She felt that not only Page and the 
partnership were being saved, but that, in some in¬ 
definite way, the old trio, Jean and Hal and her¬ 
self, was being cemented into more lasting unity. 
She took up the receiver with a sigh of content. 

“ Pelham 344, please,” she called. 

After a little interval she got the clerk, and made 
herself known. 

“ We’ll take that room for Miss Carter,” she said 
clearly. “ Please have her moved in as soon as 
possible. I’ll be down in the morning to see about 
paying.” 


1*5 


CHAPTER XIII 


CAPTAIN MULFOHD’s MISTAKE 

“ Well, isn’t this better than that horrid old 
ward down-stairs? ” 

Hilda’s eyes were dancing and her voice rang 
with pleasure as she put the question. She looked 
in from the threshold of the little room at Page in 
the fresh white bed and she fairly beamed with sat¬ 
isfaction. 

“ This suits you better than that hodge-podge of 
nations down-stairs,” she rippled. “ It’s small, but 
it’s cool and bright. You look perfectly sweet with 
your hair that way, Page,—it makes you look like a 
little girl. I’ve heard that you are lots better, so I 
shan’t bore you with questions. I’ll get a vase for 
these flowers and then I’ll come in for a few min¬ 
utes, if you’ll promise not to talk.” 

She was thankful as she saw the happy look on 
Page’s white face that she had acted promptly. 
She hurried hack with the glass vase from the dis¬ 
pensary, and while she arranged the fresh flowers, 
she talked softly of the things she knew Page 
wanted to hear. 

186 


CAPTAIN MULFORD’S MISTAKE 


“ I read an article on Rio Janeiro last week, and 
it says it’s the most beautiful city in South Amer¬ 
ica,” she said. “ You’ll love it when you go down 
there to live with Carter. And I’ll come visit you, 
and we’ll have the most wonderful times. When ■ 
you get well enough I’ll bring the book over for 
you to see. I think you ought to study Spanish, 
too. Everyone who goes to South America does. 
We’ll have a class for beginners out at Grey Cot 
when Carter’s one of the firm,—of course, he can’t 
have you go down right off-” 

Page lay very still with the most peaceful expres¬ 
sion on her thin face. She smiled but did not at¬ 
tempt to speak. Her face lighted from time to 
time and later, when the nurse came softly to the 
half-open door with a glass of orange juice for the 
patient and a significant look for Hilda, Page’s big 
eyes showed her regret quite as clearly as she could 
have spoken it. 

Hilda was quick to note the look. “ Never mind, 
I’ll be over again soon,” she said brightly as she said 
good-bye. “ I can come to see you here any time I 
choose, you know,—it’s not like that horrid,—well, 

I won’t mention that place again, but you know 
where I mean. Good-bye and brace up; the best is 
yet to come! ” 

She told Jack of Page’s comfortable state as soon 

as she met him at the tennis courts of the club, 

187 



HILDA OF GREY COT 

where she stopped to pick him up. “ I believe 
she’ll get well quickly now/’ she said hopefully. 
“ Perhaps we won’t have to spend much after 
all.” 

Jack chuckled and displayed a dollar in a rather 
grimy palm. “ Doesn’t matter if we have to blow 
in our whole fortune,—I’ve struck pay-dirt and you 
needn’t worry, little one,” he said with a patroniz¬ 
ing air. “I’m on the way to cut out old Rocke¬ 
feller. I made that this morning.” 

“ You’re not caddying at the club at your age? ” 
cried Hilda in quick alarm. She stopped at the ex¬ 
pression of compassion on his face. “ Oh, no, of 
course you’re not,” she amended hastily. “ You 
couldn’t be playing if you were a caddy. What 
are you doing then? ” 

“ Something that is perfectly honest and strictly 
private,” he told her with an impish grin. “ You 
needn’t think you can wheedle it out of me and then 
grab the job yourself, for I’m not going to tell. 
It’s all right, strictly all right, and that’s all you 
need know about it.” 

Hilda saw he was not to be moved and she 
meekly gave up, remembering her experience in re¬ 
gard to the telegram. Nevertheless, she kept an 
eye on his movements for the rest of the day, as far 
as she was able. That she did not discover the 

slightest clue only added to her curiosity. She felt 

188 


CAPTAIN MULFORD S MISTAKE 

that sooner or later she must unravel the mild mys¬ 
tery of Jack’s source of income. 

She was surprised to see Captain Mulford’s car 
before the house and Captain Mulford himself was 
lounging in the easy-chair under the trees when 
they drove in. He sprang up with almost theat¬ 
rical grace to help Hilda out of the car and his salu¬ 
tations were fervid and prolonged. That is, as far 
as Hilda was concerned. He barely noticed Jack’s 
existence with a cool nod. It was evident he had 
no taste for boys. 

“ I’ve just run up to see if we can’t get you to 
come down for a dance on Friday,” he said, settling 
himself very near to Hilda’s chair, as Jack, with his 
tongue in his cheek, left them. “ We officers are 
getting it up and it promises to be quite a nice little 
thing. Mrs. Bradford will chaperone you and 
we’ll have a supper in the private dining-room at 
the Carlton afterward,—the fellows all have leave 
for the night.” 

Hilda shook her head with much regret. “ Oh, 
I’d love to, but it’s quite impossible,” she replied. 
“ Jack and I are going with the Sloans to the Club 
Field Day and a supper afterward at Mrs. Mor¬ 
ton’s. We’ve had the engagement for ages.” 

“All the more reason for cutting it,” he returned 
lightly^. “ Hang-overs are apt to be stale affairs. 

You can make up some good excuse,—your great- 

189 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


grandmother is ill or you’ve mislaid your best hat, 
-—and they’ll never know the difference, since your 
mother isn’t home.” 

Hilda was silent. She had not the faintest in¬ 
tention of crying off from her engagement with 
Janey, but the prospect of the dance in the pretty 
new hotel near the camp and of the delights of un¬ 
limited partners to choose from, made her refusal 
slow in coming. 

The captain misunderstood her silence, and he 
bent nearer. “ Oh, come, be a sport,” he urged. 
“We can’t do without you, you know. It’s no use 
to hang back. We’ll fix it up somehow. No one 
but Potts and Mrs. Bradford need know who you 
are,—the rest will be all strangers to you. Do say 
you’ll come.” 

“Please don’t keep on asking me,” she replied, 
her cheeks aflame and her eyes clouded. “ I’d hate 
to have to cheat or,—it’s no use thinking of it, for 
I’m going to Field Day and Mrs. Morton’s supper. 
I wouldn’t break my engagement with the Sloans 
for the most delightful affair in the world.” 

The captain took her rebuff very coolly. He 
was evidently not an amateur in matters of this 
sort. He waited until she had ended and then he 
drew his chair nearer again. He spoke in a low, 
soothing tone as though to a wilful child. 

“ You mustn’t fly off like that, you know,” he 

190 


CAPTAIN MULFORB’S MISTAKE 

murmured gently. “ Second thoughts are always 
best, aren’t they? Let’s talk it over sociably and 
see if we can’t hit it off somehow.” 

His handsome, smiling face was suddenly hateful 
to her. She wondered why she had ever thought 
him agreeable at the Ardsmore that afternoon. She 
rose. “ I don’t want to go to your dance,” she said, 
flinging all her scorn for his deceit into each crisp 
word. “ I don’t have to make secrets of the parties 
I go to. And I hate people who do. I suppose I 
have to thank you for your invitation, but I shan’t 
ever go to any dance with you anywhere, thank you. 
And I wish you a very good afternoon.” 

She held herself very stiff as she pronounced 
these crushing words. She did not look at him 
for fear his discomfiture might make her regret 
them. 

He arose easily and took up his hat deliberately. 
“ That sounds as though you were ready to dis¬ 
pense with my society for a while,” he returned with 
unruffled good nature, still speaking as though to a 
naughty child. “ Sorry you feel so keen about 
choking me off. Mrs. Bradford seemed to think 
you’d be apt to manage the dance, but I suppose 
I’ve been a bit awkward. Better luck next time. 
You don’t care to shake hands? No? Well, just 
as you wish.” 

She looked at him without fear of embarrassing 

191 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

him now, but her indignant gaze had no effect upon 
his good nature. 

“ You won’t reconsider the matter? ” he paused 
to ask, adjusting his collar and straightening his 
belt with cheerful precision. 

“ I shall never think of it again,” she retorted 
quickly. She felt she had chosen an unfortunate 
reply, for his smile gave her to understand that he 
knew she would think of it many times, and she had 
to confess that he was right, although they might 
not agree as to how she would think of it. 

He left with a graceful bow and strode away, 
showing by the set of his shoulders that he knew 
she was looking after him and that he was well 
worth looking at. Hilda hated him more than ever 
for that triumphant exit, for it put her somehow in 
the wrong. It made her seem more than ever the 
petulant child that he had assumed her to be. And 
yet she knew beyond a shadow of doubt that she 
was entirely right. 

“ He’s perfectly horrid!” she cried, half aloud, 
with a little impotent stamp of her foot. “ And I 
don’t believe Mrs. Bradford knew a thing about it. 
I’m sure he made that all up, the deceitful-” 

" Hul- lo, what’s up—private theatricals? ” called 
a familiar voice. 

Hilda started and turned a burning red. She 

felt that Leslie must have seen the Captain’s tri- 

192 



CAPTAIN MULFOED S MISTAKE 

umphant exit, and perhaps more. She was so con¬ 
fused that she forgot to be surprised at his unex¬ 
pected appearance at the palings of the garden 
fence beyond the summer-house. 

“ W-w-when did you get here? ” she faltered. 
“ H-how long have you been there? ” 

“ At the particular spot where I am now lo¬ 
cated? Just this very second of time,” Leslie re¬ 
plied readily. “ What’s up?” 

His face was so sincere that Hilda had to take 
his protests as genuine and believe that he had not 
seen the Captain’s departure but had popped his 
head over the palings only at the moment of her 
outburst after the unwelcome guest had gone. She 
drew a long breath of relief and became herself 
again. 

“ Come on in and report,” she invited, only too 
happy to forget the unpleasant incident in Leslie’s 
account of his visit to Lawrence Meade of which 
Jack had told her. Leslie always brought such de¬ 
licious tales of the haps and mishaps of his journey- 
ings. “ Is Lawrence going to get off next month 
for the wedding?” 

Leslie vaulted the palings and came over to the 
low chair. “ He’s all right,” he replied cheerfully. 
“ He’s got to run down to Rio for a bit of business 
for his dad before he gets loose from the New York 
office, but he’ll be here for the great event on the 

i93 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


sixteenth. Wild horses couldn’t keep him away. 
Funny, isn’t it, how crazy he is about Betty? He’s 
known her all his life, too.” 

Hilda merely nodded. She was still fuming in¬ 
wardly over Captain Mulford’s impertinence and 
she wanted to rush to talk with Mrs. Bradford over 
the telephone. She wondered why Leslie had come. 

“ I just ran over to tell you that Mrs. Chester 
is going to chaperone us for the dance,” he said as 
though in answer to her thought. “ Mrs. Sloan has 
gone to Maine and she’s stopping with Janey until 
her mother gets back. We’ll drop in for you and 
your kid cousin about eight-thirty. By the way, 
that youngster is a cracker jack at tennis. We’re 
wishing he was a member, so he could play the next 
matches.” 

Hilda had no chance to reply. Jack’s melodious 
whistle sounded from the stable and he came flying 
over the grass, a warm welcome for Leslie in his 
face and voice. He was quite a different Jack from 
the one who had retired before Captain Mulford. 

“ Want to see a horse? ” he asked Leslie glee¬ 
fully. “ I tell you, you’d never know Bonaparte 
for the same bag of bones I bought two weeks ago. 
He’s-” 

“ He’s just as bony as ever, Leslie,—don’t let 
him raise your hopes,” laughed Hilda. “ He’s a 

perfect skeleton, even with his cover on.” 

194 



CAPTAIN MULFORD S MISTAKE 


Jack wagged his head loftily. “ Come on, both 
of you,” he commanded. “ We’ll see who’s right.” 

They started, but John halted Hilda before she 
had gone two steps. His “ You are wanted on the 
’phone, Miss Hilda,” turned her steps toward the 
house and she went swiftly, wondering who it might 
be. 

She was smiling a little as she took up the re¬ 
ceiver. All the tempest of revolt and anger that had 
so suddenly and unexpectedly swept over her in 
those few minutes with Captain Mulford had 
passed. The sight of Leslie with his comfortable 
habits of comradeship; of Jack whose whimsical 
manners hid so true a heart; the thought of Betty 
and Jim and Lawrence, had somehow slipped her 
mind back into its old grooves of good-will and 
kindly belief in the world about her. 

It was Mrs. Bradford’s voice, and Hilda gave a 
little exclamation of pleasure. Her friend seldom 
called her. The warm thrill that filled her at the 
sound of the soft, melodious voice died suddenly, 
however, at the realization of what the voice was 
saying. Mrs. Bradford was speaking of the pro¬ 
posed dance. 

“ I’m quite ready to play fairy-godmother, my 
dear,—pumpkin coach and all,” the soft voice rip¬ 
pled. “ I can’t promise you an invisible cloak but 
I think we can arrange it so that your friends’ feel- 

195 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


ings are not hurt by any knowledge of why you 
couldn’t keep your engagement with them.” 

Something rose in Hilda’s throat, blocking speech 
for a moment, and the soft voice went on, “ Cap¬ 
tain Mulford tells me that you feel rather uncer¬ 
tain, on account of an old engagement, but I’m 
sure we can arrange that safely, since you would 
like to go with us.” 

It was so plain now to Hilda that the Captain 
had gone straight to Mrs. Bradford with his 
false reports, deliberately deceiving that sincere, 
good friend, that she found her voice in a rush of 
words. 

“ Indeed, I can’t go,” she said emphatically. 
“ Captain Mulford has entirely deceived you. I 
told him I could not and would not go, and he un¬ 
derstood it quite plainly. If he has given you the 
idea that I was hesitating about it, he has delib¬ 
erately misrepresented what I said to him. I can’t 
think how he could have made such a stupid blun¬ 
der.” 

There was the briefest silence, as though a long 
breath were being taken, and then the soft voice 
came again, “ Oh, my dear, how unfortunate that 
I should not have known just how the matter stood. 
Of course, I should never have dreamed of urging 
you to break a real engagement. Captain Mul¬ 
ford’s feelings, his desire to have you at the dance, 

196 


CAPTAIN MULFORD’S MISTAKE 


—which I may say is really being gotten up for 
you,—have carried him quite away, it seems.” 

The slight pause, in which Hilda might have had 
a chance to change her mind, passed and Mrs. Brad¬ 
ford’s voice went on evenly, “ Pray don’t think any 
more about it, my dear. It has been a foolish mis¬ 
take, but nothing more. Poor Archie is already 
punished for his presumption in hoping his dance 
would be the superior attraction, and I am in sack¬ 
cloth and ashes over my mistaken offer to play god¬ 
mother. You’ll forgive us both, I am sure. And 
don’t forget that you are to take me to the Confer¬ 
ence to-morrow. Good-bye and good fortune until 
then!” 

Plilda had no chance for further explanation or 
regret, for the receiver at the other end was hung up 
and her eager words were wasted. 

“ She hasn’t an idea of how horrid Captain Mul- 
ford can be,—she’s too good,” she thought as she 
too hung up and sat with her chin in her hand, pon¬ 
dering. “ I don’t know whether I had better tell 
her about how abominablv he behaved, or not. I 
wish Mother were home so I could ask her about it. 
She really ought to have her eyes opened-” 

She sat for some time, thinking seriously, and 
then she sighed as she rose. “ Well, anyway,” she 
said rather wistfully, “ it all makes me hate deceit 

and underhand dealings more than ever. I’d rather 

197 



HILDA OF GREY COT 


be straightforward than—than get the best thing 
in the world by cheating.” 

When she saw Mrs. Bradford the next dav, her 
friend was so sweetly concerned about the mistake 
she had made that Hilda had not the heart to wound 
her with a detailed account of Captain Mulford’s 
offending words. She was too glad to find her di¬ 
vinity flawless to quibble over a mere trifle like the 
Captain’s offensiveness. She made mp for her dis¬ 
missal of Mrs. Bradford’s friend by being more de¬ 
voted to Mrs. Bradford, if that were possible. 

She drove her to the Conference of Welfare 
Workers and came for her afterward. When she 
left her at the Ardsmore, she stopped at Harkin’s 
and got the rug she had been hesitating about yes¬ 
terday. She felt that in buying it on credit for 
Mrs. Bradford, she was showing more confidence 
in her admired friend. 

At the hospital she had a good report of Page 
who was asleep and so not to be seen. She drove 
home in a contented frame of mind. Her mother’s 
last letter was in her pocket, Mr. Dalton had again 
praised her drawing for the Hampton Row room, 
Esther Marie had brought her a rare little jug for 
her own blue bedroom and she simply knew that 
Jean’s cablegram would be good news. 

She drove slowly along by an unaccustomed road, 

passing rows of pretty houses with smooth lawns 

198 


CAPTAIN MULFORD’S MISTAKE 

and neat terraces, where the click of pruning shears 
and the whirr of lawn-mowers was to be heard. It 
seemed that this was the favorite clean-up day for 
this neighborhood. At one end of the row a youth 
in shirt-waist and white trousers was making the 
grass fly before his speeding mower. Something in 
his motions caught Hilda’s eye and she almost threw 
on the emergency brake in her surprise. 

It was Jack! 

Strange to say, he did not see her as she flew 
past. His head was bent and his eyes fixed on the 
other end of the lawn. He moved with the speed 
of a motor and was gone behind the house while 
Hilda flew past. 

“ So that’s how he makes his money,” she 
thought with a throb of admiration for the energy 
displayed. Pushing a lawn-mower on a warm morn¬ 
ing was the last thing she would have thought of 
for leisurely Jack. “ Bless his heart, lie’s the real 
thing, after all. Mother knew him better than I 
did, of course.” 

At the luncheon table she tried to draw him out 
in regard to his accumulating income, but he evaded 
her skilfully. He had been busy and it was mighty 
hot over the other side of town, he said, and what 
did she think of asking that Page girl to come to 
Grey Cot as soon as they’d let her out of the hos¬ 
pital? “ I’d be home a lot, and I know about sick 

199 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


people, you see, and we could manage her between 
us, so Martha couldn’t kick,” he ended seriously. 

Hilda wanted to kiss him but she merely said 
she’d think about it. To herself she said, “ He 
thought of that because he’s afraid his money won’t 
cover Page’s expenses if she stays there long and 
he’s determined I shan’t be disappointed about the 
Partnership.” 

A warm wave of feeling swept over her as she 
watched his slim figure racing to catch up with 
John who was going barnward. 

“You are perfectly fine, Jackie boy, though you 
don’t like to let anyone know it,” she said firmly, 
“ but other people are not quite such selfish beasts 
as they used to be. They’re going to try to be 
honest, at any rate. That’s sure and certain! ” 


CHAPTER XIV 


THE DANCE AT THE CLUB 

“ PH WEE-000-weee! ” 

Leslie’s whistle brought Hilda to her feet. 

She had not heard the automobile stop outside, 
but the familiar whistled warning of Leslie’s ap¬ 
proach brought her back to the present with a joy¬ 
ful start. She jumped up, gathering her cloak 
about her and hurried into the hall. Through the 
glass side-lights of the wide door she could see Les¬ 
lie coming up the steps. 

“I’m all ready,” she cried as she flung open the 
door. “ I’ll call Jack and we’ll be with you in a 
jiffy. He hasn’t come down yet.” 

It was the night of the dance, a cool crisp night 
that promised perfect comfort on the crowded danc¬ 
ing floor,—and Hilda’s pulses were dancing to a 
tune of happy expectancy. She had on her becom¬ 
ing pink chiffon with the new silver panel, her 
cheeks were flushed and her eyes shining. She had 
quite forgotten her discontent at having a mere 
civilian as an escort and she beamed on Leslie with 
pretty welcome, as she sounded the Japanese gong 
by the stairs. 


201 


HILDA OF GREF COT 

« 

“ I told him I’d ring when you came,” she said, 
adding gaily, “ You look awfully well in that new 
rig, Leslie. I’m glad it’s formal to-night, for those 
clothes help me to bear up under being denied a 
soldier uniform.” 

Leslie undoubtedly did look wonderfully well. 
The white expanse under his well-cut chin was quite 
as becoming to him as Hilda’s fluffy draperies were 
to her. And he liked to be told. It made him un¬ 
usually communicative. “You look like a regular 
peach yourself,” he responded with open admira¬ 
tion. “ Old Bill Draper will be sore on me for put¬ 
ting him off with Janey but he’ll have to stand it. 
I’m going to have the first two dances,—remember 
that.” 

He held one hand behind him and he now brought 
out a lovely little corsage bouquet of pale pink 
sweet peas, Hilda’s favorite flower. “ Will these 
match all right? ” he asked. 

She took them with pleasure and held them 
against her dress. “ They’re perfect,” she said 
radiantly. “ They fit in beautifully at this knot in 
my girdle.” 

Jack came down at that moment, and, because 
they were too much pleased with themselves to no¬ 
tice or because of the slight coolness of the evening, 
neither of them commented on the fact that his 

light overcoat was buttoned to the chin. 

202 


THE DANCE AT THE CLUB 

They found Mrs. Chester’s big car in front of 
the house with Janey beside her on the back seat 
and the imposing figure of Lieutenant Draper 
standing very upright on the driveway. Hilda 
wished, as the introductions were made and she 
heard the Lieutenant’s firm tones, that the moon 
had risen so that she might have a good view of him. 
She could not manage more than a glimpse as he 
got in, but that glimpse was very attractive. He 
was tall, erect and extremely dignified. 

“ Just Janey’s luck to get the best looking man 
in the crowd,” she thought with a fleeting half- 
amused regret. “ I suppose I shall have to dance 
with civilians all the evening.” 

These forebodings did not damp her spirits in the 
least, however, and they were a very gay party on 
the short road to the club. Hilda noticed that both 
the Lieutenant and Jack, who were on the little 
seats in the middle of the car, craned their heads 
constantly toward the back seat that held Janey, 
but she was quite content with even that limited 
view of their backs. The mounting sense of joys to 
come made her heart throb happily and her laugh 
ripple out at every slight opportunity. 

Jack only spoke to her once. It was when they 
were passing The Pines and someone had spoken of 
Mr. Skelton’s fine collection of prints which was 

being shown in the Norton Library that week. 

203 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

Jack touched Hilda’s elbow, motioning to a figure 
which was coming from the back of the house to¬ 
ward the servants’ entrance on the highway. 
“ There’s your precious spitfire,” he whispered. 
“ Out collecting, I guess. Seems to run in the 
family.” 

Hilda screwed her eyes to peer through the star¬ 
light. “ She’d never be out alone at this time of 
the night,” she retorted under her breath. “ They 
draw the line at that.” She spoke positively for she 
recalled Esther Marie having complained only that 
afternoon of the strictness which Miss DuBois in¬ 
sisted on in the matter of evening outings. “ She 
never goes anywhere without a maid, and a man to 
take care of them both.” 

Jack was not convinced. “ I know the way she 
struts along and it’s her, all right,” he insisted un¬ 
grammatically but firmly. 

It was only a momentary glimpse they had as 
they sped past and Hilda was so sure of her own 
superior knowledge that she paid little heed to 
Jack’s statement. There were far more inviting 
topics than a rambling kitchen maid, as she knew it 
to be, and by the time they had reached the club 
she had forgotten the incident entirely. 

The club was a scene of delightful gaiety. 
Flower-decked and softly illuminated, it was al¬ 
ready crowded. Everyone had arrived early, and 

204 


THE DANCE AT THE CLUB 


the rooms were a-flutter with airy gowns, pretty 
faces and soft laughter. 

Hilda was too much interested in their arrival to 
waste time lingering on the steps of the club-house. 
She followed Mrs. Chester and Janey to the dress¬ 
ing-rooms with a delightful sense of expectancy. 
“ How lovely everything looks,” she said to Janey 
as they shook out their filmy draperies and adjusted 
their hair before the long mirrors. 

“ Doesn’t it? ” responded Janey, with one eye on 
the hall where their escorts were already waiting. 
“ Lieutenant Draper said he’d never seen a prettier 
club-house.” 

Hilda smiled and went out to meet Leslie with a 
little laugh of sheer happiness. The pink-and-sil- 
ver chiffon, with its new panel, looked quite as well 
as she had hoped. The music was sounding from 
the dancing-room above and it was playing a fa¬ 
vorite waltz. 

She did not see Jack anywhere. Another young 
man was waiting with Leslie and the Lieutenant. 
Janey held out her hand to him graciously. “ Oh, 

Mr. Hastings-” she began, when Hilda broke 

in on her with a little cry of amazement. 

“Jack, is it really you?” she asked, staring at 
the correct figure in evening dress. “ Where did 
you-” 

He cut her short. “ Where did I come from? ” 

205 




HILDA OF GREY COT 


he interposed, with a suggestive glance at her. 
“ Why, I was in the car with you, of course. 
You’re forgetting everything, aren’t you? Those 
flowers Leslie gave you must be in the machine yet.” 

It was true, she had forgotten Leslie’s gift. A < 
burst of teasing laughter came from the others and 
the tables were turned on her. Jack got to the car 
before Leslie, and he was back in a moment, hold¬ 
ing them out to her. “ Keep your wits about you, 
young lady, and don’t ask foolish questions next 
time,” he said with a meaning grin as he put them 
into her hands. 

She accepted the flowers with a grateful look. 

“ You look wonderfully well in your best clothes,” 
she said under her breath. “ Why didn’t you show 
yourself off at home before we started? ” 

He gave her a queer look and turned away to 
Janey. “ Remember, I’m to have the second dance, 
Miss Sloan,” he said earnestly. Janey bubbled up 
at him in her usual fashion, but she turned to Lieu¬ 
tenant Draper as they started up the wide stairs, 
and she did not turn her head in Jack’s direction 
again. 

Hilda soon forgot Jack’s new clothes, however, 
for as they crossed the smooth floor of the dancing- 
room Jim Yarrow hailed her. “ The wandering 
sheep has returned to the fold, I see,” he said. 

“ Bring her over to our crowd after your dance, 

206 


THE DANCE AT THE CLUB 


Les,—we’ll all be there on the first balcony. Give 
me a sight of that program, Miss. I want to see 
that my name’s there as often as it ought to be.” 

Hilda laughed as she displayed her card. She 
was not worried about any lack of partners. Jim 
made a wry mouth as he saw the full list. “ My 
handsome initials are there all right but you’ve got 
too many others. I’m going to tell your mother on 
you if you split dances with more than two, you 
know,” he warned her, as he handed it back. “ Be 
sure to come over to the balcony soon as this dance 
is over.” 

The floor was perfect, and Leslie knew how to 
dance. Hilda was sorry when the music ceased. It 
had been more than a. month since she had danced 
and she longed for more. But when they reached 
the balcony she found the old crowd, as Jim had 
said, ready to welcome the wandering sheep. All 
talked at once, all asked questions nobody troubled 
to answer, all laughed together at everything that 
was said. It was exactly like old times save for the 
absence of Jean and Hal. Hilda thought with a 
little inward ripple, “ It’s better than the hermit’s 
life, after all.” 

She said so to Jack when he came for his dance. 
“ Of course, one gets more work done alone but I 
believe it’s all right to have some fun in between, 

after all. It makes one feel so good.” 

207 



HILDA OF GREY COT 

He nodded as he steered her through the crowd 
of dancers. “ Them’s my sentiments,” he replied. 

“All work and no play-” he broke off to ask 

casually, “ Did you know that Janey Sloan had 
her card made up over two weeks ago? She’s only 
giving me the third splits. She’s dancing most of 
the time with that soldier of hers.” 

Hilda’s merriment did not seem to soothe him and 
after he left her with her next partner she saw no 
more of him for an hour or more. 

One of the dressing-room maids came toward her 
just as she had ended a waltz with a very nice-look¬ 
ing Mr. Brooks, who had been introduced by Mrs. 
Chester. They were at the wide entrance of the 
ballroom and about to make their way to the bal¬ 
cony in search of cool air, and Hilda paused in sur¬ 
prise at the girl’s words. 

“ A telephone call for me?” she asked incredu¬ 
lously. 

She followed the maid to the dressing-room on 
the first floor wondering who could want her at this 
time and place. She took up the receiver with the 
ring of the waltz music still in her ears and the 
sounds of gay voices and many rhythmic feet over¬ 
head, for the encore dance was beginning. She 
could hardly understand who it was at first. 

“Miss Skelton’s maid?” she echoed blankly. 

“And you say you are at Smith’s drug store? ” 

208 



THE DANCE AT THE CLUB 

It took some little time to understand. 

Annie, the quiet rather elderly person, who— 
after Miss DuBois—was responsible for Esther 
Marie’s clothing* and conduct, had discovered that 
about an hour earlier her charge had taken herself 
off without a word to anyone, and, although Annie 
had searched the house and grounds secretly, but 
thoroughly, not a trace of the impetuous Miss Skel¬ 
ton had been found. 

Fearful of alarming the gentle Miss DuBois by 
announcing the absence of Esther Marie, Annie 
had gone hastily over to Grey Cot in the hope of 
finding her young lady there. “ She’s taken such 
a fancy to you, Miss Hilda, that I thought she 
might have stolen off for a call on you,—just for a 
lark, as you might say,” Annie explained. “ And 
when I found she hadn’t been there, I thought per¬ 
haps you might have some notion of where she was.” 

Hilda answered that she hadn’t the faintest idea, 
and then she halted,—the memory of Jack’s words 
coming to her. “ Wait a while, Annie,” she 
amended in a whirl of indecision as to what she 
should do. “ Perhaps—well,—I’ll come over to 
Smith’s in a moment. I don’t know where she is, 
but I’ll risk a guess.” 

She hung up with a click and jumped to her feet. 
Her thoughts were in chaos, but she meant to get 

Leslie to take her over to Smith’s and then she 

209 


J 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

would follow the wild-goose chase that her memory 
led her. Betty Yarrow, coming in to repair a tear 
in her chiffon dress hem, changed her plans in a 
twinkling. 

“ See here, Betts, I want your little car for a 
moment,” she said. “ I won’t be long. I’ve got to 
go off just for a few minutes on a particular er¬ 
rand.” 

Betty, intent on the maid’s skilful manipulation 
of the rent, merely nodded. Hilda’s ability with 
cars was too well established to let her hesitate for 
the fraction of a second. She did not even ask 
where the errand was, for the music was calling and 
Betty was engaged for that dance to a Mr. Fred 
Johnson, a close friend of Lawrence’s who was to 
give her the latest word about her betrothed. 

Hilda flung her cloak about her and made her 
way through the fringe of late arrivals without be¬ 
ing stopped. She was in the car and at the corner 
drug store in a jiffy and had Annie in beside her 
before that worthy soul could begin to ask the first 
question. 

“ I don’t know that we’ll find her there,” 
breathed Hilda steering swiftly through the dim 
starlight. “ But I’m taking the chance. She spoke 
to-day of night being the best time to get that par¬ 
ticular water-snake she wanted. And my cousin 

was positive he saw her at the back entrance. If 

210 



The Good Priest Gave Many Interesting Accounts 


i**- 









THE DANCE AT THE CLUB 


she were going to Mullen’s Pond, she’d take that 
way, of course.” 

Annie groaned. “Mullen’s Pond!” she echoed 
dismally. “Mullen’s Pond! My gracious good¬ 
ness! ” 

They were on the road beside the screening 
thicket that bordered the pond before her lamenta¬ 
tion had died in her throat, and Plilda was out of 
the car peering through the tangle of drooping 
leaves in another instant. 

Fora moment all was absolute silence. 

Then, a crackling of branches, a splashing of 
water came to them, made loud to their strained 
ears by the fear that rose swiftly. 

“ She’s out on the pond, if it’s she,” said Hilda. 
“ It’s too dark to see, though. Is there a boat there? 
I don’t remember any.” 

“ Not a single boat-” began Annie, when a 

cry rang out,—a cry that froze the blood in their 
veins, for it was a cry for help! 

Someone was struggling in the water over there 
in the dim spaces behind the willows. And as the 
cry rang out they recognized the voice. 

It was Esther Marie, and she was drowning. 

The world spun around for Hilda in that moment 
of recognition. A sick sense of swift tragedy smote 
her and she swayed, clutching the side of the car 

for support. A horrible faintness swept over her, 

211 




\ 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

and she heard Annie’s low sob of horror as coming 
from a great distance. 

The cry sounded again, and now it had a gurgling 
note that was terrible,—the inarticulate cry of the 
drowning. 

Esther Marie was going down for the last time! 


212 


CHAPTER XV 


FROM A WATERY GRAVE 

Hilda never knew how she did it. 

She was in the car and crashing through the 
fringe of undergrowth toward the water’s edge be¬ 
fore Annie had time to get out. She pointed the 
powerful headlights toward the spot whence the 
cry had come, and she halted the car on the very 
verge of the pond,—the emergency brakes scream¬ 
ing unheeded. 

She caught the white gleam of an arm just be¬ 
yond the spot where she had halted and where she 
knew the water, running to the dam-breast, to be 
the deepest. Without clearly knowing what she 
did, she kicked off her silver slippers and ran to the 
center of the dam-breast, a few paces ahead, calling 
as she ran. 

Just as she dived she remembered with a detached 
sense of satisfaction that her thin chiffon-cloth gown 
and delicate silk underskirts would be no more ob¬ 
struction to her movements than the ordinary bath¬ 
ing suit. Then she put her whole energies into the 
overhand stroke and rose quickly at the churning 

spot where Esther Marie was going down. 

213 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


The light from the machine’s lamps shone across 
the disturbed waters, showing her plainly the dim 
mass of tree-branches above her. Her weeks of deep- 
sea bathing from the yacht stood her in good stead. 
She caught at the swirling figure, missed it and 
reached again, catching it securely by the long float¬ 
ing hair, and rose swiftly to the surface, swimming 
on her back and towing the now unconscious girl 
behind her. 

It was only a few strokes to the dam-breast where 
Annie waited, and Hilda seized the heavy link of 
chain that hung from the post, holding on there 
with one hand while she brought the unconscious 
body of Esther Marie close to the wooden wall. 

“ Take her up! ” she gasped. “ Get her by the 
skirts and I’ll push! ” 

Annie had her on the ground in a moment and 
Hilda climbed out dripping to stoop anxiously over 
the prostrate figure. There was not a quiver of an 
eyelash nor the faintest show of life in the wet limp 
form. All of Hilda’s confidence and courage 
dropped from her as she looked. 

“ Oh, she’s dead, after all! ” she cried in despair, 
dropping on her knees to seize one lifeless hand. 

But Annie brushed her aside. 

“ We’ll get home as quick as we can,” she said 
briefly, and stooping, took the inert Esther Marie 

in her arms and walked away toward the automo- 

214 


FROM A WATERY GRAVE 


bile. It was remarkable how strong she seemed and 
how quickly she walked. 

Hilda remembered the rugs under the seat and 
she brought them out, throwing one over Esther 
Marie’s wet form as Annie lifted it into the car. 
She was too excited to think of herself and the dis¬ 
tance to The Pines was mercifully short. They were 
at the back entrance of the house in less than two 
minutes, and in two more, Annie had Esther Marie 
across a stool before the kitchen fire, rolling her 
energetically from side to side, while a mob of ex¬ 
cited servants crowded around with eager questions 
and comments and even some tears, for Esther 
Marie was a favorite with all. 

Miss DuBois came quietly as they watched An¬ 
nie’s efforts with straining eyes and chilling hearts, 
—Esther Marie looked so dead with her big eyes 
half closed and her mouth sagging,—and the gentle 
lady spoke with great kindliness, even in the midst 
of her affliction. 

“ My dear, you will get cold if you do not 
change,” she said softly. “ The doctor is already on 
his way and will soon be here. Will you not go up 
and remove your wet clothing? Jennie will show 
you to a bathroom and give you a dry bath-robe 
or-” 

She was interrupted by the doctor’s arrival, who, 

as he afterward confessed, had shattered the speed 

215 




HILDA OF GREY COT 

limits in his anxiety; and she forgot Hilda entirely 
in watching the deft treatment under his skilled 
hands. So Hilda remained, watching, too, and 
trembling very much,—first, for fear that he might 
not be successful and then for joy at the results of 
his labor. 

Esther Marie having been treated very success¬ 
fully, first by Annie and further by the doctor’s 
efforts, came slowly back to life. She raised her 
eyelids indifferently, groaned and shivered, became 
unconscious for a moment, and then returned to a 
full understanding of where she was. A perfectly 
beatific smile parted her lips and she said in a feeble 
voice: 

“ Oh, it’s so nice to be here!” 

It was evident that drowning had not been for 
her the delightful sensation that it is reported to be 
by some people. 

That was all that Hilda saw of her then. Miss 
DuBois laid hands upon her and sent her off at¬ 
tended by the excited Jennie, whose questions 
brought from Hilda an account of what she could 
recall of the accident, and whose eyes grew round 
with admiration when she understood that it was 
Hilda who had rescued her young mistress. In the 
hurry and distraction no one had made this clear. 

Jennie, taking the soaked draperies to be dried, 

left her in a well-appointed bathroom with a plen- 

216 



FROM A WATERY GRAVE 


tiful supply of warm towels and a padded silk bath¬ 
robe and hurried off, promising to return at once 
with the latest report of the invalid. 

The door had no sooner closed on the maid when 
Hilda, in the midst of the grateful warmth, had a 
flashing memory of the club with its lights and 
music, its laughter and fragrance. She had forgot¬ 
ten all about the dance but it rushed back on her in 
the moment of relief and she gave an exclamation 
of annoyance. 

“ I ought to have gone straight home instead of 
coming up here to change,” she said. “ I could 
have gotten into another dress and gone back before 
they missed me. How stupid of me to forget! ” 

She put her finger on the push and rang repeat¬ 
edly for Jennie, but it was Miss DuBois herself 
who knocked at the door. 

She looked relieved to see Hilda in the dry bath¬ 
robe. “ Oh, my dear, we are so grateful to you,” 
she exclaimed before Hilda could speak. “ Esther 
Marie is quite restored and Annie has told us all 
about it. She is waiting very impatiently to thank 
you and I hope you will come right over to her 
room. She is quite comfortable now, and rather in¬ 
dignant that she is obliged to stay in bed,” she added 
with a little nervous laugh. 

Hilda could not refuse so kindly a demand, and 

she followed Miss DuBois to the room across the 

217 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

hall where the rescued Esther Marie was waiting 
her. But she said quite firmly before they had 
reached the door, 44 I must have my things at once, 
please, Miss DuBois, for I shall have to go home 
immediately.” 

Miss DuBois listened to her explanation of how 
she had left the club in such a hasty manner and 
her wish to rejoin her friends as soon as possible. 
She sympathized entirely with Hilda’s feelings, but 
she seemed reluctant to part with her so soon. It 
was evident that she felt that such a hasty exit 
bordered on inhospitality. And hospitality was 
Miss DuBois’ strongest passion,—after Esther 
Marie. 

As she hesitated to find the right words to urge a 
slight delay, Jennie appeared and, seeing them, 
came toward them, asking if they had not rung. 
44 Beulah the laundress says she can have your 
things for you as good as new by the time your hair 
is dry. Miss Hare,” she said. 44 1 will bring an oil 
stove wherever you wish,—there being no gas in 
this house.” 

Miss DuBois nodded. 44 Ah, yes; that will be 
well, Jennie,” she said. 44 Bring it in to Miss 
Esther Marie’s room at once. And tell Mary to 
send up the hot lemonade there, too.” To Hilda 
she added, 44 Yes, you must dry your hair and that 

takes time. I must have had that fact at the back 

218 


FROM A WATERY GRAVE 


of my mind when I took it for granted that you 
must stop here for a while. Now, you shall see 
Esther Marie and dry your hair and take something 
hot and strengthening, all at the same time. We 
shall be getting on very fast after all, you see.” 

Hilda had to acknowledge that it was the best 
thing to be done under the circumstances, although 
she was by no means sure of the drying of her 
clothes in the given time. She made up her mind 
to go as soon as her hair was dry, in borrowed gar¬ 
ments if need be, and, slipping into her next pret¬ 
tiest frock, go back to the dance with all speed. 
She had no mind to give explanations of her ab¬ 
sence. Having settled the matter with herself, she 
was quite free to give herself up to the pleasant 
period of interlude, and she entered the bedroom 
with an exclamation of real delight in the sight of 
Esther Marie sitting up in bed drinking warm milk 
from a beautiful crystal goblet, her red-gold head 
wrapped in a towel. 

Esther Marie set the goblet down as she saw her, 
and she stretched out her arms impetuously, almost 
upsetting the tray on her knees. 

“ How can I ever, ever, ever thank you? ” she 
cried ardently. “ I’ll have to spend my whole life 
making up for what you’ve done. You’ve saved my 
life,—rescued me from a watery grave! ” 

She was so fervent, so unconsciously melodra- 

219 



HILDA OF GREY COT 


matic that she was funny. Hilda returned the warm 
caress but she laughed. Seeing Esther Marie safe 
and sound and drinking milk from a carved goblet, 
she felt she could laugh now. It would have been 
very different had the same words been uttered on 
the dam-breast or in the flooded kitchen. 

Nevertheless, it was all very pleasant,—the sense 
of safety and the enveloping luxury of the room, 
the gratitude of Miss DuBois, as well as that of 
Esther Marie. The warm drink that she was 
gently ordered to take while Jennie deftly dried 
her hair was very agreeable, too, for the shock and 
strain had been greater than she had at first realized. 
Altogether it was a very comfortable interval and 
she was almost sorry when Jennie pronounced her 
hair to be quite dry and ready to be done up. 

“ I ? ll get your things from the laundry now, Miss 
Hare,” she said. “ I’m sure they must be done.” 

Hilda was equally sure they could not be but she 
made no comment, except to ask if she might bor¬ 
row some other clothes to wear home in case her 
own were not wearable. She sat down before 
Esther Marie’s dressing-table and twisted her hair 
into its usual knot at the back of her head, answer¬ 
ing some remark of Miss DuBois’ rather absently. 
She was trying to decide whether she should select 
the blue georgette or the white tulle. 

Jennie’s return put an end to her indecision. The 

220 


FROM A WATERY GRAVE 


smiling maid bore the pink chiffon-and-silver frock 
in triumph in one hand and the dainty silk under- 
things in the other. All were fresh and immaculate 
as when new. 

Hilda’s gasp of surprise brought the pleased ex¬ 
planation from Jennie. “ Beulah says the chiffon- 
cloth always does up something wonderful, and 
those crepes and wash silks are just the same. 
They’re so easy to dry, too,—just like a veil. Beu¬ 
lah says she hopes you’ll think them good enough to 
go to your party in, Miss Hare.” It was plain that 
the whole household was eager to serve the rescuer 
of their impetuous young mistress. 

Hilda vowed that the things looked better than 
they had been before their bath and she followed 
Jennie to the guest-room opposite, feeling that her 
time had been very well spent at The Pines, since 
she could not have made such good time had she 
gone back home to dry her hair and dress. 

Esther Marie lay back on her pillows while little 
Miss DuBois gently dried her shining locks and she 
fairly glowed with admiration as Hilda in the reno¬ 
vated draperies came to say good-night. 

“ You’ve done another perfectly sweet thing for 

me in staying here,” she declared earnestly. “ I’ve 

had the chance of seeing you in your party dress, 

and I’ll never, never forget how positively angelic 

you look to me. When I think of that horrid black 

221 



HILDA OF GREY COT 

water and look at you now, I’m quite sure that it 
was an angel that rescued me ”—she was about to 
say “ from that watery grave,” but Hilda’s smile 
checked her and she substituted dexterously, “ from 
that disgusting spot.” 

She kissed Hilda very heartily and before she let 
her go, she whispered, “ I’ll never go out at night 
again alone, I promise you that, Angel of Be- 
thesda! ” 

She was very much in earnest and she did not 
relish Hilda’s irrepressible ripple. She was very 
quick to hide her embarrassment and she added as 
she waved her benignantly from the room, 44 I’ll see 
you to-morrow, perhaps. Tell that Jack-cousin of 
yours that he may have my collection if he wants 
them. I’m done with that sort of thing.” 

Hilda, still smiling, made her way down-stairs 
and out to the car where Jackson, the Skelton 
chauffeur, waited her coming. He, too, had made 
use of his time, for Betty’s car was dry and fit as 
ever. 

44 Good-night, Miss DuBois. I’ll be over in the 
morning to see how Esther Marie feels after her 
plunge,” she said brightly as she got in. 

But when the car was on its way she made the 
most of her moment of absolute rest. She was glad 
that Miss DuBois had insisted on Jackson running 

the car for her, and she settled down in the seat 

222 



IT WAS MRS. BRADFORD 









FROM A WATERY GRAVE 

with a little sigh of satisfaction that the tragic epi¬ 
sode was so well closed. She had been able to save 
a life and to escape without inconvenience,—even 
her silver slippers being found by Jennie entirely 
unharmed on the floor of the car where she had 
kicked them off in her haste. 

“ And I’ve only been gone a scant hour,” she 
thought, glancing at the rising moon behind the 
gables of the club-house. “ What a lot has happened 
in that time. It certainly was some adventure.” 

Some late arrivals were going in as she left Jack- 
son and the car and made her way to the dressing- 
room. Two beautifully gowned women were before 
the long mirrors settling stray hair and adjusting 
their draperies. One of them turned at Hilda’s en¬ 
trance with a little cry of surprise. It was Mrs. 
Bradford! 

Hilda greeted her with her heart in her eyes. 
Here was a fitting climax to her heroic hour. She 
felt as though her measure of reward for the brief 
moment in the dark waters of Mullen’s Pond were 
heaped-up and running over. 

Mrs. Bradford seemed almost equally glad to see 
her young friend. She introduced her to her com¬ 
panion with great cordiality, and when they began 
the ascent of the stairs to the ballroom and were 
joined by their escorts, she presented Captain Mul- 

ford and Major Potts, insisting gaily that Hilda 

223 



HILDA OF GREY COT 


must take compassion on each soldier for at least 
two dances, after the first necessary rounds with 
herself and Mrs. Mills had been gone through with. 

Hilda returned the Captain’s effusive bow with 
courteous coolness. She knew that she could invent 
some excuse for evading the dances with him and 
she did not want to wound her kind friend by re¬ 
viving that unpleasant episode of the Company 
Dance. She had intended to crush him with chilly 
dignity, but under Mrs. Bradford’s smiling eyes, 
she could not show her real feelings. Beside, she 
realized how little the affair mattered to her now. 
That dark baptism in Mullen’s Pond had given her 
a keener sense of values. 

She met Jack at the ballroom entrance and he 
turned to walk with her across the shining floor. 
His face was both puzzled and relieved. “ Where 
have you been?” he demanded under his breath. 
“ I’ve been looking everywhere for you. Betty 
Yarrow said you borrowed her car but you weren’t 
at home and-” 

Her heart warmed with the certainty he had been 
anxious about her and she impulsively slipped a 
hand through his arm as they threaded their way 
through the rapidly gathering couples. “ I’ll tell 
you all about it later on,—after w T e get home,” she 
replied in the same low tone. “ Don’t say anything 

more about it now. I’ll explain it somehow to the 

224 



FROM A WATERY GRAVE 

others. Oh, there’s Leslie coming, so it must be his 
dance,—I’ve lost count.” 

Leslie caught her eye and nodded grimly. He 
was evidently in a stern humor and Hilda giggled 
at his forbidding air. Before he reached her she 
had a sudden desire to make the comradeship be¬ 
tween Jack and herself complete beyond a flaw. 

“ Mrs. Bradford was asking about you, and I had 
to tell her you were here,” she said, looking at him 
with candid earnestness. “ But I said that no 
doubt you were engaged for all the dances,—I 
didn’t want her to think you lacking in courtesy, 
you know, and I didn’t want, either, to have you 
endure her when you dislike her so.” 

Jack was not to be outdone. “ Why, I don’t dis¬ 
like her,” he replied, flushing. “I just meant that I 
couldn’t fall down and worship her as you did.” 

Leslie claimed Hilda then and no more could be 
said, but she was pleasantly surprised later on to see 
Jack’s slender figure steering Mrs. Bradford 
through the throng of couples in the before-supper 
dance. She might have enjoyed the spectacle more 
if Leslie, whose dance it again happened to be, had 
been in a better humor. He suspected her of hav¬ 
ing gone off with Mr. Brooks for a ride in the “ rip- 
pin’ little car ” the young man had spoken of more 
than once, and the idea of Leslie imagining she ad¬ 
mired the heavy Mr. Brooks was too deliciously 

225 



HILDA OF GREY COT 

funny to spoil with a confession of the actual 
facts. 

When it came to Betty and the rest a sudden im¬ 
pulse of shyness made her laugh off their questions 
and so her little escapade soon dropped out of sight. 

The rest of the evening passed like a delightful 
dream. Hilda, with that memory of tragic dark¬ 
ness at the back of her mind, fairly reveled in the 
bright joyousness of the hour. She danced and 
chatted, moving in a haze of perfect happiness. 
Jack’s figure in its normal dress added much to her 
comfort. He looked very attractive, she thought, 
and he was behaving like such a dear. He danced 
twice with Mrs. Bradford and once with her friend, 
Mrs. Mills. Leslie was the only one of her circle 
who did not win her entire approval. He left her 
quite alone after supper and only turned up for the 
last dance. 

When it was all over and the farewell speech by 
the president of the club had been applauded, when 
the last handshakes had been exchanged and good 
wishes shouted to the various departing cars, when 
they were all in Mrs. Chester’s big car again and 
Hilda was cuddled down in a soft, tired, happy 
heap on the front seat, Leslie, looking straight 
ahead toward the rising fragment of old moon, un¬ 
burdened his mind. 

“ Well, for a girl who used to be such a good 

226 


FROM A WATERY GRAVE 

fellow you’ve certainly surprised me to-night,” he 
said with withering contempt. “ Chasing off half 
the night with a conceited ass like that Brooks,— 
' with his 4 rippin’ little car ’ and his bragging about 
himself! I’m disappointed in you, though I hate to 
say it.” 

Hilda giggled. “ Mr. Brooks is a very enter¬ 
taining person,” she said gaily. “ I’ve learned a lot 
about old aristocratic southern families to-night. 
He knows a lot about cars and horses, too. Jack 
ought to have him look Bonaparte over.” 

Leslie’s snort of derision was his only answer and, 
as she was too deliciously tired and sleepy to carry 
on the joking, their conversation ended there. He 
handed her out at the door of Grey Cot with great 
politeness and the merry farewells of the others hid 
his silence. Hilda did not remember till she was on 
the threshold that he had not said good-night and 
she waved to him with the old 44 good-bye signal” 
of their childish code. But he did not even turn his 
head. 

She turned to Jack as they went in. The warm 
little spot in her heart had not cooled during her last 
happy hour. 

44 Oh, Jack, it was sweet of you to dance with her 
after all,” she said. 44 1 was so glad for her to see, 
too, how nice you really are.” 

Jack opened his eyes a little at this, but he did not 

227 



HILDA OF GREY COT 


resent it. Indeed, he seemed to like it exceedingly. 
“ Oh, that wasn’t anything. I had to be decent, 
you know, on your account. Didn’t want her to 
think you had a regular boob on your hands,” he 
replied in an offhand way. 

They paused under the hall-light and looked at 
each other, smiling. Suddenly Jack recalled some¬ 
thing. 

“ But what in thunder were you up to when you 
streaked off in the middle of things? ” he asked. 

Hilda told him in as few words as might be and 
with as little mention of her own part of it as pos¬ 
sible, but the fact loomed large to Jack. 

“ Great snakes, and you went off and saved that 
red-haired young idiot’s life and never said a word 
about it,” he exclaimed. “ Why, it isn’t one girl in 
a thousand could have done it,—kept mum, I mean. 
You’re a brick, Cousin Hilda, and I’m proud of 
you!” 

His admiration of her reserve,—which had been 
almost a matter of chance,—moved Hilda to ex¬ 
planation. But Jack did not listen. He broke out 
before she had fairly begun. He, too, had his ex¬ 
planations to make and they were urgent. 

“About that telegram,” he said. “ We might as 
well get that straight now. It wasn’t anything, as 
I told you then. It was only from Jim Williams 

about the clothes for to-night.” 

228 


FROM A WATERY GRAVE 

“ For to-night? ” echoed Hilda blankly. “ What 
clothes? ” 

“ The dress suit for the dance to-night,” he ex¬ 
plained patiently. “ I didn’t have any, you know. 
And I thought I’d borrow from the Williamses,— 
Bud’s my size but older. But you saw what he 
said, 4 Nothing doing,’ and so I couldn’t borrow 
from them. I was up a tree. I wouldn’t take old 
Jim’s advice and hire,—they made that pretty well, 
didn't they? Spelling hire that way, 4 Better 
higher,’ wouldn’t give me away no matter who read 
the telegram.” 

Hilda gave a gasp of dismay. “ But you don’t 
mean-” she began. 

He shook his head emphatically. “ Not for me,” 
he assured her. 44 No hired rig on my carcass. I 
did better. Aunt Alice told me to choose my own 
birthday present while I was East, and so I went 
down and got the suit. I wrote her about it. She 
said she’d send the check whenever I wrote for it, so 
it’s safe enough. I had some cash with me and I 
paid some down, though I didn’t have to.” 

Hilda laughed in relief at the solution of her sus¬ 
picions as to the telegram. 44 But why did you go 
to so much trouble for dress clothes?” she asked. 
44 You really didn’t have to have them, did you? 
The other boys seemed to have a good enough time 
in their best suits.” 


229 



HILDA OF GREY COT 


He east a wondering look at her. “ Do you 
think I was going to wear little-boy clothes when I 
was going out with you—with you people? ” he de¬ 
manded. 

Hilda turned toward the stairs, feeling the strain 
of the past excitement now in all her tired muscles. 
On the first landing she paused, looking down at 
him still standing under the light. “ But why did 
you go down the tree? ” she asked, not wishing to 
leave anything unexplained. 

“ Because I wrote three letters to Aunt Alice,— 
in case of delay in the mails,” he grinned. “ I 
posted them in different districts, so they’d go out 
in different deliveries. I was afraid you’d spot me 
if I went down-stairs the regular way.” 

She went on up-stairs then, smiling over the sim¬ 
ple solving of the puzzle. On the top step she 
stopped again and leaned over the railing. An illu¬ 
minating certainty had flashed upon her that mo¬ 
ment. 

“ You got those clothes to show off before Janev 
Sloan,” she called down. “Oh, John Howard 
Hastings, what a bluffer you are! ” 

There was no reply. The light snapped off in 
the hall below and an absolute silence reigned. 
Hilda chuckled as she crossed the landing to her 
own room. 

“ The little goose,” she thought indulgently. 

230 


FROM A WATERY GRAVE 


Then she threw her cloak on a chair and yawned 
contentedly. 

“ It’s been a wonderful night,” she said to herself. 
“ Perhaps parties aren’t such a waste after all.” 

Just as she was getting into bed she stopped with 
a little gasp of surprise. “ I never looked at the 
rooms at The Pines,” she murmured in amazement 
at her carelessness. “ I didn’t see a single thing all 
the time I was there—stupid thing that I am!” 
Then she shrugged her shoulders. “ I’ll have to 
make up for it the next time I have a chance,” she 
told herself. “ I shall certainly have plenty of op¬ 
portunity now-” 


231 




CHAPTER XVI 


MAKING PROGRESS 

Jean^s cablegram came next morning while 
Hilda was busy with her account book. 

She and Jack were in the summer-house and a 
scribbled list of her expenditures for Page Carter 
was before them. He had insisted on knowing ex¬ 
actly how much had been spent. “ I want to know 
how much I’ve got to produce,” he remarked. “ If 
you won’t get your allowance until Monday and 
Miss Carter is going to leave the Hoffman on Sun¬ 
day, we’ve got to settle up with each other right 
now.” 

Hilda puckered her brow at the list. It was 
larger than she had expected. Five days in the lit¬ 
tle private room at four dollars a day, an extra 
night nurse for the first night when Hilda had been 
anxious about the effect of the moving from the 
ward to the room, and a few other extras had 
swelled the sum to thirty dollars. She thought of 
the accounts at Harkin’s and at Smith and Sons 
with a shudder. 

“ Never mind, you’re not going to pay me till 

232 


MAKING PROGRESS 


next winter,” Jack assured her, mistaking the shud¬ 
der. “ I won’t take a cent-” 

“ But,” she broke in, “ my accounts won’t be 

straight, anyway. Can’t you see? Here’s the list 

of money spent and here’s the hundred I got on the 

eighteenth and there are,—other things,” she ended 

lamely. 

«/ 

He whistled. Then he looked at her earnestly. 
“ Won’t you let me help just this once? ” he asked 
soberly. “ This wouldn’t happen again, you see. 
You won’t have another sick friend to pony up for. 
Let me pay my share for her,—I’ve all the cash I 
need,—and then you’ll be able to come out square, 
won’t you? ” 

It was a great temptation. Hilda sat playing 
with her pencil, and it lured her mightily. She 
wanted to accept Jack’s offer more than she wanted 
anything else at that moment. It stood to her for 
the partnership, her mother’s approval, and the es¬ 
cape from failure which had been haunting her re¬ 
cently. 

It was at this precise moment the cable came. 

She took it with an eager hand, glad of the res¬ 
pite. She would make her decision afterward. 
She tore the envelope and read slowly and then she 
held it out to Jack. “ He didn’t die after all,” she 
said solemnly. “ I knew he wouldn’t. Oh, I do 
hope he’s going to get well soon! ” 

233 



HILDA OF GREY COT 

Jack took the paper and read Jean’s short mes¬ 
sage. He had been told of Jean’s sorrowful jour¬ 
ney. He looked doubtful as his eyes followed the 
brief words. “ Hal returning with us on the Sile¬ 
sian. Have written. Jean.” 

“ It might mean almost anything,” he admitted. 
“ I guess it’s best to look on the sunny side. He 
may be lots better, as you say. Doctors make mis¬ 
takes. Funny, how many mistakes they make. 
They said Aunt Alice couldn’t pull through, but 
she was getting well right along when I left.” 

His words helped strengthen Hilda’s belief in her 
cheerful view. She folded the paper and went 
back to the accounts with a better grace. She no 
longer hesitated as to her decision. She laid a hand 
on Jack’s arm as she spoke but her voice was firm. 

“ I’ll take your money as a loan,” she said. “ I’m 
very glad to have it, too. But it will have to show 
on the books. I won’t sail under false colors. If 
I have to lose the partnership, I’ll have to,—that’s 
all.” 

It was easy to say this under the spell of Jean’s 
cablegram with the memory of Hal’s heroism fresh 
before her. She felt it so strongly that she im¬ 
pressed Jack. 

“All right,” he agreed reluctantly. “ If you feel 
that way about it, I won’t butt in. You’ve got two 
months, anyway, haven’t you? ” 

234 


MAKING PROGRESS 


“ Yes, the time limit is two months, but I am to 
have all my accounts square for each month,” she 
explained, rather ruefully. “ I don’t believe I 
ought to try to patch it up by coming out square 
at the end. I could do that, easily, though,” she 
ended. “ I’ll get some money from—another in¬ 
vestment by the middle of the month, I think.” 

Jack’s answer was lost in the honk of a horn, and 
the big limousine from The Pines came sedately 
through the gateway. Miss DuBois was inside al¬ 
most buried beneath a mountain of flowers. Esther 
Marie’s bright head showed opposite her and her 
arms were full. 

As the car halted, she caught sight of them in the 
summer-house and she sprang out, rushing to Hilda 
and then halting half-way to return to Miss Du¬ 
Bois, whose slower motions put a check on her danc¬ 
ing eagerness. Hilda met them before Miss DuBois 
had quite extricated herself from the flowers. Jack- 
son had just helped her to the ground and Hilda 
had begun a pleased greeting, when Esther Marie 
broke out impetuously. 

“ Oh, please don’t let’s talk politeness on this au¬ 
spicious morning,” she cried. “ Of course, it’s 
sweet of Aunty Lavendar to hurry over so early in 
the day and you’re delighted to have her, but do 
let’s get on to the important things. We’ve 
brought some paltry flowers—and they’re the very 

235 



HILDA OF GREY COT 


best we’ve got,—and we’ve scoured the shops for a 
worthy gift—and the shops are wretched places. 
You won’t like what I chose but it’s all I could get; 

I knew what you liked but-” and without 

more words she laid her first parcel in Hilda’s 
hand. 

Hilda took it gratefully, but she nevertheless 
halted to present Jack to Miss DuBois, and then 
suggested that they go to the house. She thought 
that Esther Marie would prefer to have an eye on 
the bestowal of the flowers which Jackson was 
handing over to John’s care. 

“ May we not go to your pretty bower there? ” 
asked Miss DuBois, and Esther Marie pounced on 
the suggestion. The summer-house was near and 
she could make her offerings at once. So they set¬ 
tled themselves in the pleasant leafy retreat, and 
Miss Skelton deposited her parcels on the table,— 
Jack had deftly removed Hilda’s books to a distant 
corner. 

“Now do open them,” she implored. “Aunty 
Lavendar, please tell her to open them.” 

Miss DuBois smiled across at Hilda, whose fin¬ 
gers were busy with the ribbons. “ I think Miss 
Hare is willing to see what is there quite as much as 
I am,” she said pleasantly, adding with a smile, 
“You didn’t explain to her, my dear, that it was 

you who scoured the shops while I sat comfortably 

236 




MAKING PROGRESS 


in the car. She must not think I had anything to 
do with selecting the things.” 

Esther Marie flashed around to squeeze little 
Miss DuBois in a tight embrace, crying, “Ah, you 
are afraid they aren’t nice, Aunty Lavendar, but 
you won’t get off that way. It was you who told 
me what to get.” 

Hilda took out the beautiful edition of “ The Art 
of the Early Weaver,” and she showed her delight. 
But before she could open her mouth in thanks, 
Esther Marie cried impatiently, “Open the rest! 
Oh, do open the rest! ” And so she undid the other 
three parcels and found in the first a companion vol¬ 
ume, “ The Art of the Early Silversmith,” and in 
the second, “Ancient Rugs and Their Makers,” 
while the third flat package yielded a lovely length 
of silken tissue with embroidery and tiny tassels, all 
of a soft heavenly blue which the eager Esther 
Marie said was a genuine bit of oriental silk. 

“ That’s the only thing I didn’t get from the 
shops,” she confessed, radiant at Hilda’s delight. 
“ Father told me I might give it to you when I 
’phoned to him this morning very early. He got it 
in Arabia and it’s genuine. Aunty Lavendar re¬ 
membered what sort of books you’d like but I had 
to have my own real share in it, so I bought them all 
by myself.” 

“ They’re all lovely,” exclaimed Hilda in amaze- 

237 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


ment at such bounteous gifts. “ They’re beautiful, 
wonderful, but,—but,—so many, so much-” 

Miss DuBois waved Esther Marie to silence and 
spoke with gentle dignity. “ My dear,” she said 
sweetly, “ Esther Marie and I don’t mean to meas¬ 
ure our gratitude by such poor means. We are 
only trying to express a very small part of our af¬ 
fection for the dear girl who has been so very good 
to us. We both hope that we are all to be very 
good friends after this,” and she included Jack in 
her fluttering look. “ I am sure we ought to be 
friends since we are already quite near neighbors.” 

“ Yes, indeed,” replied Jack most unexpectedly. 
“ We do live pretty near each other. And if you 
like horses, Miss DuBois, I can bring Bonaparte 
over any time you’d like to see him. He’s thin, but 
he’s got blood.” 

Little Miss DuBois was quite bewildered by 
Hilda’s mirth. She assured Jack that she really 
preferred horses to machines and her interest so 
elated Jack that he was about to bring out the ani¬ 
mal then and there for her inspection. Luckily, 
Leslie appeared at that moment and his astonish¬ 
ment at the scene gave Esther Marie her chance. 

After the introductions had been duly performed, 
she told very graphically indeed the story of her 
drowning and her rescue by Hilda. She did ample 

justice to the courage of her rescuer and made a 

238 



MAKING PROGRESS 


very dramatic affair of it. Hilda hardly recognized 
herself in the portrayal. Leslie was much im¬ 
pressed. 

After the enthusiastic Miss Skelton and gentle 
little Miss DuBois had left, promising to come 
again soon, Leslie turned to Hilda with the most 
comical expression on his good-natured face. Hilda 
held up her hand before he could speak. 

“ Don’t say you’re sorry you were grumpy,” she 
laughed. “ It was lots of fun to hear you go on. 
Poor Mr. Brooks’ ears must have burned. No,” 
she added, as he tried to break in, “ I’m not going 
to listen to any nonsense about being sorry. You 
may as well go along with Jack to inquire about 
Bonaparte’s health. I’ve got an engagement with 
Mr. Dalton and I’m late, too.” 

She ran off to the house, leaving him to Jack’s 
society. “ Good old Leslie,” she thought, merrily. 
“ He’ll never forget those speeches of his. He’ll 
try to make it up to me every time he has a 
chance.” 

Nevertheless, she was pleased that he should real¬ 
ize how thoroughly he had misjudged her. It was 
pleasant, too, to see the admiring looks of John and 
Martha, to whom Jackson had related last night’s 
occurrence. It was gratifying to hear their flur¬ 
ried words of praise and to know that all her little 
world was approving her. She wondered how Page 

239 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


would look when she heard it,— 44 But not from me,” 
she said emphatically, with a blush. 

She wished someone might have told Mrs. Brad¬ 
ford and she thought a good deal about that charm¬ 
ing lady as she drove to her lesson. The dance last 
night had wiped the tiny cloud from the sky of her 
devotion and the full sun shone brightly again. 
Captain Mulford had kept respectfully in the back¬ 
ground, proving that Mrs. Bradford had made him 
understand that his conduct had not pleased either 
her or her young friend. After that first meeting 
at the entrance of the ballroom he had not come 
near Hilda again. She felt entirely satisfied with 
Mrs. Bradford’s conduct. 

44 1 do hope she will like the room,” she thought. 
44 Mr. Dalton doesn’t know it’s for her, of course, 
but he says it would suit the most critical lady in the 
world.” 

At the quiet house in Barford Street she found 
Mr. Dalton in a rather perturbed state. He, too, 
had a cablegram from Jean and he had not taken 
the same cheerful view of it as had Hilda. He 
seemed much disturbed and Hilda could see that it 
was hard for him to keep his mind on the subject, 
which happened to be Rugs. After a few minutes’ 
hesitation she ventured her suggestion. 

44 If you’d rather postpone the lesson to-day, Mr. 

Dalton, I can come again any time you wish,” she 

240 


MAKING PROGRESS 

said. “ I have just had a present of a book on 
Rugs, and I could be reading that up for the next 
lesson, if you say so.” 

He meditated for a moment and then answered 
seriously, “ I believe that would be a good arrange¬ 
ment. I shall probably be out of town for a few 
days and can let you know when I return. And, 
by the way, that friend of yours,—will you ask 
her to postpone her visit? I shall be at lib¬ 
erty after next week and will be glad to see 
her then.” 

Hilda promised eagerly. She wished she might 
be of some service to her kind friend but there was 
nothing else she could do, except pack her things 
and say good-bye as quickly as possible. She left 
him with a hopeful word about Hal,—a word which 
came from her heart,—and then she went over to 
the hospital to see Page on her way home. 

Page was sitting up. Her recovery had been 
marvelous since Hilda had intervened, for she was 
one of those people for whom love is the best tonic. 
She was fairly blossoming into health and her face 
lighted with a pretty joy when Hilda came into the 
little room. 

Hilda saw her opportunity had come. 

“ I’ve made arrangements for Sunday,” she said 
after greeting her. “ You’re to leave here, you 

know. Jack will come for your things about ten 

241 




HILDA OF GREY COT 

and when he comes back, we’ll go home. I have 
your room ready-” 

“ But I can’t-” broke in Page in distress. 

“ You can and you will,” interrupted Hilda 
firmly. “ There isn’t any place for you to go, any¬ 
way. Your room at Mrs. Wilkin’s is rented 
and your trunk is over at Grey Cot, in your 
room.” 

Page sank hack bewildered. She was too weak 
to argue and she felt helpless before Hilda’s crisp 
determination. She looked as though she were go¬ 
ing to weep. 

“ There’s no use fussing,” smiled Hilda brightly. 
“You just have to submit. I’m doing just exactly 
what your brother would want me to do,—remem¬ 
ber that. He wouldn’t hear of your going back to 
that forlorn place, would he? ” 

“ N-no,” replied Page doubtfully. 

“ Well then, there’s nothing to do but come to 
Grey Cot. You can’t go to Watson’s either for 
weeks,” returned Hilda promptly, and with that 
matter disposed of, she turned to other subjects. 
She was not going to let Page spoil her well-laid 
plans by balking at the last moment, and she knew 
if she got her point now, it would be settled. She 
talked of Page’s latest letter, of her mother’s news, 
of the festivities of the afternoon and evening until 

she had Page in a cheerful mood again. 

242 




MAKING PROGRESS 


Then she kissed her and left her, glad that all was 
going smoothly. 

She had notified the clerk at the desk that the 
room would be vacant after Sunday morning and 
she was half-way home before she recalled her wish 
regarding Mullen’s Pond. She laughed out loud. 
“ What a goose I was,” she thought. “ Wanting to 
go peacocking about before Page as a heroine! It’s 
a blessing I don’t have the chance to fish out a 
youngster every week, or there’d be no living with 
me.” 

Some old ladies in a passing car turned to look at 
her and she suddenly realized she was on the public 
highway. She put on speed and fled homeward, 
still smiling. Jack ran out as she swung into the 
drive. “Anything up? ” he called, anxiously. 

a» 

“Not a thing,” she told him, as she sprang out. 
“ I’ve had a half-holiday, that’s all, and I’m going 
straight up to get ready. We’ll go over to the club 
as soon as you please.” 

She had forgotten all about herself as heroine 
and flew to her dressing with a light heart. “ Good 
old Jackie was dying to go soon and he wouldn’t 
breathe a word,” she thought. “ He made up such 
perfectly good excuses that he fooled me. But his 
eyes just popped when he saw me. He’s racing to 
beat me now. I’ll have to break my neck to be 
ready soon, and I’ll see that he has a splendid time. 

243 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


He was a dear to wait for me, instead of going him¬ 
self when he was so wild to go.” 

She kept her good intentions in mind but when 
they reached the club she found that somehow the 
news of her adventure of the night before had got¬ 
ten out, and she was besieged by questions, com¬ 
ments, and lavish praise. She did not understand 
how it had leaked out until she came on Leslie near 
the tennis courts. Then it flashed on her that he 
had been making up for his mistake. She pounced 
on him. 

“ Why in the world did you tell? ” she demanded 
with reproachful eyes. “ You know-” 

“Well, don’t you like it?” he laughed. “I 
should think it would be mighty fine to be the cen¬ 
tre of the admiring throng.” 

She laughed and blushed and then became more 
serious. “ I did think I’d like it,” she confessed, 
“ but it makes me feel rather silly. Please let me 
come and play a set with you. They’ll forget about 
it by that time.” 

He grunted and gave her a racquet. “ We’ll 
have to hustle,” he said briefly. “ The matches be¬ 
gin in an hour.” 

She soon forgot her sudden shyness in the game 
and after that the matches were beginning and in 

the hustle for places she became one of the crowd 

244 



MAKING PROGRESS 


again, and had a most delightful time. Jack came 
for her just before lunch. 

“ They’re here,” he said. 

“ Who? ” she asked absently. She had actually 

forgotten that they were to lunch with the Sloans’ 

party. The excitement of the matches, the events 

of the last two days had completely blotted out that 

fact. Jack’s disgust reminded her. “ Oh, of 

course, we’ll get the car and go right over to the 

Row,” she added briskly. “ I hope Baxter won’t 

cut us off with a crust because we’re late.” 

She felt remorse as she felt how eager he was. 

“ We ought to have joined the Sloans half an hour 

ago,” she said to him as they went to get the car. 

“ Why didn’t you tell me they were here?” 

He was looking rather gloomy, she thought, and 

he merely murmured something under his breath, 

as thev turned the foursome into the wide smooth 
«/ 

driveway that encircled the club courts. She was 
enlightened, however, when they reached the big 
car where Mrs. Chester was dispensing hospitality 
in place of Mrs. Sloan and where Janey was smil¬ 
ing on a lanky youth whose whole attention seemed 
to be centred on his heaping plate. 

In the buzz of welcome that greeted them Hilda 
saw that Janey merely lifted a careless hand in their 
direction. She did not turn as Jack leaned over to 

speak to her, but flung her welcome back over her 

245 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


shoulder in an interval of her chatter to the lanky 
youth. “ Oh, you found her, after all,” she said 
and then turned all her interest on her companion. 
It was evident that Jack had been there earlier and 
had been dispatched for Hilda. 

“ Poor Jackie,” she thought, hiding a smile. 
“ These kid-boys are awfully funny about girls. 
Fancy his being cut up about Janey Sloan’s drop¬ 
ping him! Everybody knows Janey.” 

She suddenly determined to keep her promise to 
herself about him. “ Let’s go over to that end of 
the line,” she suggested. “ I want to see Betty and 
Jim.” 

His face did not lighten as he steered the car to 
the more distant point where two cars with the 
Yarrows and Alice Clark, Leslie and Marta Collins 
were being served by Baxter’s minions. But after 
the gay welcome he seemed to find the merry chat¬ 
ter, the comments on the preliminary events and 
the good things which Baxter brought to the late¬ 
comers, a very good substitute for Janey Sloan. 
He began to laugh and talk almost as usual. 

Hilda, feeling her purpose gained, whispered,— 
just to pretend she hadn’t noticed his snubbing by 
Janey,—“ What a perfectly jolly day it is. I never 
saw a gayer crowd or a finer Field Day. And such 
a luncheon! I don’t believe Mrs. Morton can get 

up anything better than this.” 

246 



MAKING PROGRESS 


Jack quietly finished the mushroom from his 
chicken a la king before he answered. Looking 
over to where Janey was sitting beside her mute 
swain, he said gravely, “ Yes, it’s fine.” And then 
after a slight pause he had added, “ And the dance 
was fine, but not quite fine enough to make up for 
blowing in all that good cash on those dress clothes.” 

Hilda, though she had teased him, had not real¬ 
ized until then that Jack’s purchase actually had 
been made with the vision of little bubbling Janey 
in mind,—Janey whose main purpose in life was to 
have a good time regardless of everything, and who 
tired of her friends and took them up again with 
clock-like regularity. She looked at him with sym¬ 
pathetic eyes. “ Oh, you poor old thing, to think 
that you actually got those clothes to make an im¬ 
pression on that dear little goose-” she began, 

but he checked her with a wave of his fork. It was 
plain that he preferred another topic. 

Marta leaned forward. “ Do vou mean to tell 
me, John Howard Hastings, that you’re going to 
back out of the Outsiders’ Matches?” she asked. 
“ I’ve been watching your play almost every day 
since Leslie brought you over, and we’re counting 
on you to bring honor on the club which shelters 
your homeless racquet.” 

Hilda turned to Jack in surprise. She had not 

heard of his being entered. She saw him open his 

247 




HILDA OF GREY COT 


eyes wide and frown, as he replied quickly, “ Of 
course I’m going to play. Who told you I 
wasn’t?” 

Marta laughed. “ That thin boy over there with 
Janey said he was going to clean up all the free 
lance players hereabouts. I thought perhaps you’d 
heard and dropped out.” 

Jack did not see that he was being teased. He 
sat up very straight. “ I’m not dropping out, so 
that you can notice it,” he retorted. “ You wait 
and see who gets cleaned up, though.” 

Hilda could have hugged Marta. Jack was him¬ 
self again. He ate his bounteous luncheon with a 
zest. He walked and talked with energy and when 
his turn came on the courts he made good his hint 
of victory by winning a love set over the lanky 
youth. Best of all, when the weathervane of a 
Janey came to congratulate him on his triumph, he 
merely laughed good-naturedly and turned to meet 
Jim Yarrow with a warm smile. Hilda knew he 
was cured. 

As they drove home and passed the dark bulk of 
The Pines, he flung a careless look at the clustering 
stables and outbuildings. “ I guess I’ll have to run 
over and take a look at the spitfire’s little collec¬ 
tion,” he said rather grandly. “ She isn’t so bad 
after all,—for a snip like her.” 

Hilda did not smile. 


248 


MAKING PROGRESS 


On the hall table was a note from Mrs. Brad¬ 
ford asking her if it would be possible to have the 
room ready in another week, as she was preparing 
to move in and must wait until Hilda’s task was 
complete, according to their arrangement. 

Field Days, picnic suppers, tennis matches, all 
took instant flight. Hilda came back to business 
with a pleasant jolt. 

“ Can I? Indeed I can and will! ” she said joy¬ 
fully as she went up-stairs to her room. “ I’ll put 
on steam and have it done in three days. My al¬ 
lowance comes on Mondav. I’ll finish the room 
and get paid by the twenty-first or second. Oh, 
I’d so love to have it all straightened up before 
Mother comes home, and I do believe I shall.” 


249 


CHAPTER XVII 


INTERLUDES 

Hilda was writing to her mother. 

The calendar on her desk showed how time had 
sped. It was the twenty-fifth. The momentous 
day when the second instalment of allowance was 
to straighten her twisted accounts had come and 
gone. Mrs. Bradford’s little room was almost 
done; the slight delay in the finishing of the floor 
had caused a postponement of Hilda’s winding up 
her first very important contract. Mrs. Bradford, 
however, had shown the sweetest patience though, 
as Hilda knew, her own furnishings were waiting 
in storage for the completion of the little boudoir. 

She wrote rapidly, smiling occasionally. 

“ I know you will love Page, for she is perfectly 
sweet. She has gotten over being afraid to meet 
the family, though she does not want to see other 
people. Her brother has been ill for a short time 
down in Rio Janeiro, but he is well again and has 
saved enough to go into partnership with a very 
good firm. Of course, they will be rather poor for 
a good while, but it is splendid to think he did not 
have to give up.” 


250 


INTERLUDES 

She sat nibbling the end of her pen and pucker¬ 
ing her forehead after this. It was hard to write 
what she had set herself to write next. She sighed, 
straightened her shoulders and began, looking 
rather sad as she went on. 

“ About my partnership,—I feel I ought to tell 
you that I’ve burnt the jam again. I spent more 
than I ought to have, and I had to borrow from my 
September allowance to square things up. Jack 
had loaned me the money and I paid him back as 
soon as I got mine. If all goes well,—and I am 
sure it will,—I shall come out all right at the end 
of next month. But if you think I ought to drop 
out of the partnership, I will do as you say. Jean 
will be home soon and if Hal is ill, she will want 
to be with him, so it will be easier.” 

She stopped to sigh. She did not feel that it 
would be much easier, but she was determined not 
to try to influence her mother. She could not tell 
her of the bills for all the draperies, rugs and deco¬ 
rations for Mrs. Bradford’s room,—which really 
were not debts of her own, since Mrs. Bradford 
would pay them as soon as presented. Hilda had 
merely held them back until the room was in readi¬ 
ness, in order to be sure to include every small item 
in her list of expenses. What she was to receive as 
reward for her labor troubled her very little. She 

had decided at the very first to refuse payment ex- 

251 



HILDA OF GREY COT 



cept perhaps a photograph of her admired friend, 
and she held to it now. 

“ I simply couldn’t take money when she’s really 
doing it for charity,” she repeated, staring at the 
paper. 

Her mind had slipped away from the letter and 
it was hard to go on. She decided she had written 
enough and, adding a few household items of 
news and a brief mention of the departure of the 
family at The Pines for a trip along the coast, 
she closed with a fervent wish that her mother 
were home. “ I will miss you fearfully at 
Betty’s wedding to-morrow,” she added in a post¬ 
script. 

She sealed and addressed it and took it down for 
Jack to mail on his way to the club. He was busy 
in the barn and she gave her letter to John instead 
and then went to sit with Page who was in the long 
chair beneath the lindens, almost lost in a nest of 
downy cushions. 

Page laid down her magazine and smiled up at 
her. “ Jack brought his famous Bonaparte out here 
for me to see,” she said. “ That’s a mighty good 
bit of horseflesh, if I’m any judge.” 

Hilda stared at her blankly. “ That bony 
thing? ” she gasped. “ That poor, weak, thin crea¬ 
ture? Why, I thought he was never going to have 

animation enough to live, let alone be a regular 

252 


INTERLUDES 


horse again.” Then she asked quickly, “ How 
much do you know about horses, Page? ” 

Page cocked her head to one side thoughtfully. 
“ I used to be a right smart judge of a horse,” she 
replied slowly. “ Carter and I had our hunters 
and used to ride with the hounds with Father when 
we were almost babies. Father had good stock, 
racers and hunters all of them. Jack’s nag ought 
to show up pretty well in another fortnight or so.” 

“ Well, don’t tell him so,” laughed Hilda. 
“ He’s perfectly daft over the creature now. I be¬ 
lieve he’d bring him up to his room to stay if he 
knew how you’re talking about blood and all that.” 

Page laughed and would have answered but John 
was returning from the post-office and Hilda saw 
him. 

“ There’s John with the mail! Oh, what a lot.” 

She abandoned the task of arranging Page’s pil¬ 
lows in the long chair and flew over the grass to 
intercept John, holding out eager hands. She hur¬ 
ried back to Page and dumped the jumble of let¬ 
ters, cards and advertisements into her lap. 

“ You must play postman, Page, and give me the 
letters that look best,” she laughed. “ I shan’t read 
you a story for a whole week, if you don’t give me 
one I want.” 

Page smiled and sorted the envelopes with her 
thin fingers. In the days she had been at Grey Cot 

253 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


as the joint-patient of Hilda and Jack,—not to 
mention the solicitous Martha,—she had made won¬ 
derful progress. The doctor was delighted with her 
improvement, and said frankly he was only coming 
from force of habit and not because he was needed. 

“ Here is one from your mother,—you see I know 
her writing now,—and an envelope that looks like 
a wedding invitation, and a queer stiff card with a 
big seal on the cover,” smiled Page, deeply inter¬ 
ested in Hilda’s game. “ Which one will you 
choose?” 

Hilda cast a searching glance at the three mis¬ 
sives and then held out her hand for the envelope 
with the green seal. “ I don’t recognize that writ¬ 
ing,” she said. “ Let’s have the mystery solved 
first, so I can enjoy Mother’s news with a free mind. 
That other is Marian Field’s wedding card; one of 
the girls at Cohasset,” she explained. “ My faith, 
what a big seal! I’m almost afraid to open it.” 

Her face lighted with amusement as her eyes 
rested on the brief lines written in a large stiff hand 
across the square card. “ It’s from Esther Marie, 
and she’s coming home on Wednesday,—that’s to¬ 
morrow,” she told Page with a ripple. “ See how 
she’s written the lines diagonally across the card, 
because, she says, writing to me is ‘ too rare a thing 
to be done tamely, like silly every-day letters and 
lessons.’ Isn’t she the strangest girl?” 

254 



INTERLUDES 

S 

“ She is evidently mighty different from most 
gushing girls of her age,” commented Page, lean¬ 
ing back and looking up into the leafy bower above 
her with thoughtful eyes. “ Most any girl would 
have bored you to death with letters and wanting 
you to write often, and all that. From what you’ve 
said of her, I reckon she’s left to do what she 
fancies.” 

Hilda looked surprised. “ I never thought of 
her that way,” she replied. “ But it’s quite true. 
She is reserved, in spite of her tremendous way of 
rushing into things. She has never come to see me 
unless invited and, since she left for the coast, I 
haven’t had a line from her. It’s funny I never 
thought of it before.” 

Page was silent, still staring up into the green 
canopy above her, and Hilda read her letter. 
“ Mother’s coming home soon,” she said with a lit¬ 
tle pucker on her forehead. “ She doesn’t say 
when, though. She just tells me to expect her,— 
that’s all. Except a message to you and Jack. She 
says you are to be prepared to adopt her as long 
as you are here, and that you are to get well 
promptly. Oh, I’m so glad she’s coming home at 
last! You’ll simply adore her, Page, for she’s the 

sweetest-” she broke off, staring toward the 

driveway. 

A tall familiar figure was coming in. 

255 



HILDA OF GREY COT 


“ It can’t be,—yes, it is. It’s Jean! ” cried Hilda. 

Page, who had been lying back in the long chair, 
started up and then sat weakly down again. She 
dropped the magazine and letters on the grass, 
while Hilda sprang toward the figure coming across 
the lawn. 

“ Jean! ” she cried with all her heart in her voice. 
“ Oh, Jean! ” 

Jean, looking worn and pale but with her old 
careless manner full upon her, strode straight to 
Hilda, and, in the grasp of her firm hands on 
Hilda’s outstretched fingers, she answered that cry 
of the heart. All that she did not say was in that 
strong pressure. 

“ Hello, everybody,” she said, with brusque 
cheerfulness that hid the emotion in her voice. 
“ It’s good to see you again. Introduce me, Hilda, 
though I’ve only a moment to stop.” 

Her nonchalant manner put all into the old 
grooves again. The moment of meeting was easier 
for Page than could have been hoped. Jean’s easy 
assumption of everything being quite normal had 
its effect at once. As soon as the introductions and 
first hurried exclamations were over, Hilda drew 
Jean aside. 

“ Tell me about Hal,” she said eagerly. “ When 
can I see him? ” 

Jean looked away to the blue distance, and her 

256 


INTERLUDES 


voice hesitated in its drawl. “ He’s not very fit,— 
the long trip, you know,” she replied unevenly. 
“ To-morrow or the next day, perhaps.” Then, 
squeezing Hilda’s hand very hard, she added in a 
rapid undertone, “If you’d had my letter you’d 
have known. He wants to see you soon. I’ll send 
you word.” 

She broke off abruptty and was gone before 
Hilda could speak, but she returned at once. “ I 
forgot to tell you that I am not going back to Corn¬ 
wells for a while,” she said. “ Hal’s wonderfully 
interested and I’ve been telling him about our part¬ 
nership. He says he’ll bet on you to make things 
go. I’ll be over again to hear all about your work 
with Mr. Dalton. He said, when he met us at 
the ferry, that you were making good. I must 
run now, for Hal’s asleep and may want me 
when he wakes. Tell Miss Carter good-bye for 
me, will you? I haven’t time to go back and 
talk.” 

Hilda went slowly back to Page. She stood be¬ 
fore the long chair looking down on the slight form 
surrounded by pillows. “ Page,” she said very 
softly, “ you’re a lucky girl. You’re only poor. 
You’ve got your brother and you’ll be happy with 
him some day. You’re a lucky girl.” Then re¬ 
membering how ill Page had been she picked up the 

letters and straightened the cushions again. “ I’ll 

257 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


hunt up Jack with the news,” she said; “ he will be 
glad to know Mother is coming home.” 

She went to the stables, her heart sore within her. 
Jean’s face had told more than her words. She 
knew, however, that she must not be less brave than 
Jean, and so she met Jack with her usual manner. 
It was hard but she managed it. 

He received Mrs. Hare’s message, and the news 
of her return at a near moment with enthusiasm, 
making Hilda smile by his rush toward the other 
end of the barn and the words flung over his shoul¬ 
der as he left her. 

“ Got to give Bony an extra shine and fix up the 
exhibition-rooms in the stable,” he called. “ Don’t 
expect me to do any errands this afternoon, for 
those snakes are a mess, and Bony hasn’t been ex¬ 
ercised. Great Scott, and she may be here to-mor- 
row!” 

Hilda went back to Page and the other letters, 
still smiling bravely at Jack’s desire to please. 
“ He’s deserted us for the afternoon, Page,” she 
said, picking up the envelopes that still lay on the 
grass. “ Shall you be able to manage without 
either of us for a couple of hours? I shan’t be 
longer than that, I’m sure.” 

Page assured her she should do very well, and 
she went off to the garage with her mind teeming 

with plans for the afternoon. She had to go on 

258 


INTERLUDES 


with things, Had to finish her work, though her head 
was whirling. She had to run out to Hampton 
Row to put the final touches on the room; she had 
an appointment with Mrs. Bradford at three-thirty, 
when she was to present the bills for the room. It 
was an afternoon of great affairs for her! 

The trip through the bright day helped her 
greatly. She found the room at the Hampton all 
that she had hoped it would be. The last few 
touches were put on it and she stood in the doorway 
looking on her work as the clock struck three. She 
had been quick and thorough. “ It’s lovely,” she 
breathed in a glow of satisfaction. The joy of the 
creator warmed her heart. “ It’s perfectly lovely,” 
she repeated. “ Oh, I hope she likes it. And how 
glad I’ll be for Mother to see it! ” 

It was all in dim pale tones of pomegranate and 
terra-cotta, with hints of dull gold here and there. 
The soft tone of the walls, the delicacy of the web¬ 
like window hangings, the warm deep color of the 
door curtains filled her with delight and she turned 
the key on her work with a song of thanksgiving in 
her heart. 

“ I’ve done it,” she told herself as she hurried 
down the broad front steps. “ I’ve done it before 
Mother got back. I’ll pay all the bills to-morrow 
morning early and then I’ll be ready whenever she 
comes.” 


259 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


At the Ardsmore she met with a sharp disap¬ 
pointment. Mrs. Bradford was not in and had left 
a note for her instead. Hilda, with her hopes de¬ 
ferred, read the perfumed missive in the office un¬ 
der the eyes of the nonchalant clerk. 

“ I am heart-broken,” the note ran, “ to have to 
run away at this great moment, but I have some 
business which must be settled. I shall see you in 
a couple of days at the utmost. Until then, your 
friend always, Margaret Bradford.” 

Hilda went home rather soberly and after she 
had spent a determinedly cheerful hour with Page, 
she went up to her room and got out the stack of 
bills which had gathered bulk in the weeks since 
her first purchase at Harkin’s. 

“ After all,” she said, as she finished sorting and 
summing them up, “ it’s better to wait a bit. There 
may be something else I’ve forgotten. Let me see 
—yes, there’s the little rug for the fireplace. 
Smith’s didn’t send the bill for that yet, though I 
told them I wanted each bill as I bought the goods. 
It’s just as well I didn’t see her to-day. I’d hate 
to be bringing up dribs after the big bill was set¬ 
tled.” 

She ruffled the papers through her fingers ab¬ 
sently. “ I wonder,” she said slowly, “ when 

Mother really will get home. I begin to wish that 

260 


INTERLUDES 

she’d stay just a few more days. I’m wild to see 
her but-” 

She got up shoving the bunch of papers into 
their pigeonhole and shutting the desk with a click. 

“ If I can get those horrid bills cleared off and 
show a good record with Mr. Dalton, I believe I 
have a chance,” she thought. “ I certainly scorched 
my jam last month but I’m pretty sure Mother 
wouldn’t say it was badly burnt.” 


261 



CHAPTER XVIII 


WEDDING FAVORS AND FAREWELLS 

Tile door of the limousine banged shut and they 
were off. 

Hilda sank back on the seat, careful of her 
draperies, and gave herself up to the full enjoyment 
of the hour. She was going to Betty’s wedding 
with Miriam Griffeth, another bridesmaid. Her 
mother had not returned and Jack had already gone 
with Leslie. Miriam, who had been at the rehearsal 
which Hilda had missed, was all enthusiasm for 
Lawrence’s friend from West Point. 

Hilda settled her filmy yellow crepe,—she and 
Miriam were the two pale-yellow bridesmaids who 
were to walk after the pale blue and just before 
the pale violet ones,—and began to draw on her 
gloves,—the very gloves that she had used as a lure 
on that day in July to draw her mother’s interest to 
Page, but which had failed so signally in their aim. 

“ To think of little Betty being actually an old 
married woman in about half an hour,” said 
Miriam, as they got out at the entrance to the little 
church and went toward the vestibule where the 

other bridesmaids and ushers were already assem- 

262 


WEBBING FAVORS 

bled. “ It makes one feel positively aged, doesn’t 
it? I feel that being nineteen has a serious side to 
it, I can tell you.” 

Hilda laughed. “ I’m only seventeen and two 
months,” she said lightly. “ I guess I’m too young 
to feel the burden of my years yet. Why, there’s 
Jean going in at the side entrance. How sweet of 
her to come,—I really didn’t think she would be 
here.” 

Miriam looked and nodded. “ Jean’s always 
pretty fine,” she said, and then they were in the 
vestibule and the vortex closed about them. Hilda 
forgot Jean and every other outside interest in the 
delightful excitement of the next quarter of an 
hour. 

Betty and her father, the procession up the aisle 
to the solemn music of the wedding march, the 
' sacramental words at the flower-decked railing, the 
placing of the shining gold band on Betty’s slim 
finger by the pale and agitated Lawrence,—all the 
ceremonials of the important moment, kept Hilda’s 
whole attention. It was not until after it was all 
over, and the ushers and bridesmaids were forming 
into the final procession that she looked about her 
at the audience seated in the pews. 

She saw Mrs. Morton and Mrs. Clark in the sec¬ 
ond pew, and Miss Landis just behind them. Far 

over near the south wall she caught Jean’s eyes 

263 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

fixed on her with a curiously compelling look. 
“ She wants to speak to me,” she thought, and un¬ 
consciously she nodded an assent to the unspoken 
appeal. “ I’ll see her outside,” she said to herself, 
and as soon as she was free to leave the crowded 
vestibule she hurried over to the side entrance. 
Jean was waiting there. 

“ What is it? ” asked Hilda. “I felt that you 
wanted me and so I ran off for a moment. I’ve only 
a second or two-” 

Jean’s voice was level and hard as she broke in 
on Hilda’s eager speech. 

“ Hal wanted me to ask you to stop after the 
reception. He’ll be on the back terrace,” she said 
monotonously. “ He doesn’t want to wait till to¬ 
morrow, after all.” 

“ Oh, then he’s better!” cried Hilda joyfully. 
“ I was sure he was better when I saw you here. 
I’ll be there about half-past four. Give him my 
love and tell him I’ll be right on time.” 

She wondered, after she was again in the limou¬ 
sine with Miriam, Jim and Leslie and was speeding 
up the long avenue to the stately Yarrow mansion, 
why Jean had spoken so abruptly. She remem¬ 
bered, too, that she had been strangely stern and 
pale. But this thought had barely time to flit into 
her mind before it was chased away by the gay chat¬ 
ter that always went where Miriam Griffeth was. 

264 


\ 



WEDDING FAVORS 


“ Pity they’ve only got a week after all,” said 
Leslie. “Lawrence found the three months he’d 
been promised has to be cut down to a week, and 
mighty lucky to get that. But they’ll have the trip 
down to Rio for their honeymoon. He’s got to 
plunge right in when he gets there.” 

They were at the front entrance and the car 
stopped to let them out, but the words stuck in 
Hilda’s mind. She had not heard this change of 
plans. 

“ They ought to have given him a month at least,” 
she thought, forgetting her earlier views on long 
holiday trips. “ It doesn’t seem quite fair to Betty 
to set him to work so soon.” 

In spite of the fact that Betty and Lawrence 
were to go so far away for an indefinite period, the 
reception and the wedding breakfast were the gay¬ 
est Hilda had ever known. The lavish decorations, 
the filmy gowns and dainty coloring of the groups 
on the lawn and in the beautiful rooms, made a 
charming scene. The high spirits of the best man 
who was on short leave added a note of hilarity to 
the usual festivity of the wedding breakfast, and 
Hilda, who was at the large central table with the 
bride and groom and the rest of the wedding party, 
enjoyed every moment of the time. 

It was after the breakfast was over and the merry 

crowd, waiting in the spacious hall for the first 

265 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


glimpse of the bride as she came down in her travel¬ 
ing dress, were murmuring about her that Hilda 
had another pang of regret for the briefness of 
Betty’s honeymoon trip. The slender little figure 
in pale grey and white, looking down on them with 
eyes that passed them all to find the spot where 
Lawrence waited, seemed like a new Betty—a 
Betty whose path had suddenly forked from the 
road they had all trodden together in laughter and 
careless childish eagerness. 

“ An old married woman,” repeated Miriam in 
her ear. “ She looks awfully sweet, doesn’t she? 
That wide hat is too becoming for words. Oh, 
there, she’s throwing the bouquet,—catch it, Hilda, 
it’s coming-” 

Hilda did not catch it. The flowery, gauzy 
meteor whirled past her and landed in Janey 
Sloan’s outstretched hands. There was the usual 
merry shout, the rustle of motion to see who had 
got it, and Janey’s voice, protesting that she didn’t 
want it at all,—it was a mistake, and so on; all of 
which was instantly forgotten in the rush of fare¬ 
wells to the happy little bride and the pale, digni¬ 
fied bridegroom. 

Hilda managed to kiss Betty good-bye at the 
very last moment and the wish for a happy trip 
was from the bottom of her heart. The thought 

of wasted tips that might have been spent on 

266 




WEBBING FAVORS 

the Armenians did not even dimly recur to her 
now. 

The machine with the newly-married pair sped 
down the long drive, leaving a shower of rose-leaf 
confetti behind it and a voice close to Hilda’s elbow 
said, “ That’s what I’m going to do the minute I’m 
old enough. But say, Cousin Hilda, wouldn’t that 
Janey Sloan make you weary,—pretending not to 
want the bouquet, when I saw her clawing after it 
for all she was worth.” 

Hilda faced Jack with a merry twinkle. “ So 
you aren’t a candidate for partnership with Janey 
any more? ” she teased. “ I thought you got those 
clothes in order to be ready at any moment.” 

Jack grinned and shrugged his shoulders. “ I’m 
not always crazy,” he replied airily. “ A man gets 
tired of those babyfied girls who can’t touch a worm, 
—oh, I forgot,” he interrupted himself, “ Leslie’s 
looking for you. He said he’d promised to take you 
some place at half-past four. He’s got the car by 
the side entrance.” 

Hilda’s face sobered suddenly. She nodded her 
thanks as he slipped away to the group of young¬ 
sters who were enjoying themselves in their own 
way at the other side of the house. She made her 
adieus hastily and telling Miriam that she was not 
going back with her, she went quickly to where 
Leslie waited. 


267 



HILDA OF GREY COT 


He knew that she was going to see Hal and he 
drove swiftly. He set her down at the entrance to 
the MacAllister gardens and then without a word 
he drove away. Hilda was grateful for his thought¬ 
fulness, though she was hardly conscious of any 
feeling at that moment. The sight of the familiar 
grounds and the house beyond with its broad ter¬ 
races and gay awnings roused a sudden turmoil in 
her heart. Jean’s stern set face came back now 
with a suggestion of tragedy that smote her 
sharply. 

Unconsciously she hurried up the curving walk, 
quickening her steps as the single stroke of the bell 
from St. James’ Chapel across the meadows came 
to her ears. “ I’m on time,” she thought, “ just 
half-past four.” 

Jean met her half-way up the path. She did not 
utter one word of greeting. 

“ No, he’s on the back terrace,” she said quietly. 

She turned and led the way in silence. 

Hilda knew the back terrace well. It was a 
broad grey-brick level that had a wide view of the 
green meadows and groves of the MacAllister do¬ 
main, with the blue northern hills in the distance. 
It had been a favorite gathering place for the old 
crowd. 

Hilda caught her breath as, following Jean, she 

268 


WEBBING FAVORS 

turned the corner of the house and came upon the 
familiar spot. 

The wicker chairs and tables were there, and the 
gay, red-striped awning. The floor was covered 
with the same thick rugs and there were flowers and 
ferns about just as of old. But in the middle of the 
terrace under the shade of the gay awning was 
something Hilda had never seen there before. 

A long stretcher-like bed with cushions and 
draperies that failed to hide its grim outlines stood 
there and on it lay a wasted figure with a wax-like 
face—a visible, tangible emblem of the price of 
victory. 

Hilda went forward softly, as Jean stood to one 
side. She knew now why she had been called,— 
why Hal did not want to wait until to-morrow. 

“ Oh, Hal,” she said, stooping to meet the wide 
brown eyes with her own pained loving look. 

Her voice broke for a moment. She could not 
pretend to mistake the look he lifted to her. The 
awful majesty of death was already on the features 
she knew so well. She dropped on her knees beside 
the bed and took his hand with an aching longing in 
her breast,—a passionate wish to help, since she 
could not save. 

“ Oh, Hal, we’re so proud of you,” she whis¬ 
pered, brokenly. “ You’ve done it all for us-” 

He understood her and he smiled faintly, with a 

269 




HILDA OF GREY COT 

glint of the old whimsical spirit that was so much 
like Jean. 

“ It isn’t all being willing, you see,” he said in a 
queer weak voice. “ I’m willing enough, but my 
cussed body’s gone back on me. Some other fellow 
with better muscles had to take over my job. The 
muscle’s the thing.” 

He was silent, gathering strength. Hilda 
waited, feeling that he had some message for 
her. Hal always had a purpose in everything he 
did. 

The birds were singing in the sycamores along 
the meadow brook and the warm scent of sweet 
dried grass was on the air,—all the bright living 
world was overflowing with light and warmth and 
color, while here on the terrace was death. 

Hilda, kneeling there by the grim bed with 
Hal’s wasted hand in her own warm one, in 
all the freshness and beauty of her bridesmaid’s 
finery, sobbed suddenly, and then Hal found his 
voice. 

“ We’ve been pals all our lives,—you and Jean 
and I,” he said almost in a whisper. “ We’ve al¬ 
ways plaj^ed together, even in this last game.” He 
stopped for breath for a second. “ I had you two 
kid-girls’ pictures in that comfort-kit you both 
made for me,—remember how we all laughed when 

Jean stuck it in? Pigtails on both of you, and 

270 



WEBBING FAVORS 


skinny shanks—never mincl, it was the real thing. 
Kept me going. Helped me pull through—some¬ 
times -” 

He was still so long that she thought he had 
ended but he got his strength again just as she was 
about to speak. 

“ I want you to do something for old times’ 
sake,” he said quite clearly. “ Jean’s going to be 
mighty lonely. Promise you’ll look after her. Be 
the same old chums. Girls get separated when 
they grow up. Don’t get separated. Go on with 
this partnership game. And go on just the same 
as if I were here. Don’t mope about me. Prom¬ 
ise you’ll act just the same. I’ll be more comfort¬ 
able over there if I know you two are keeping to¬ 
gether and not moping.” 

Hilda bent to kiss his white forehead, her tears 
dropping on his face as she stooped. 

“ Oh, Hal, it’s such a little thing to ask,” she 
whispered brokenly. “ I’ll do it,—we’ll both do it, 
Jean and I. We’ll keep together always. But I 
wish you’d ask more. It’s such a little thing to do 
for you! ” 

Hal opened his eyes. He looked appallingly 
white and weary. 

“It’s little, but oh my!” he quoted with the 
shadow of a grin. 

Then he closed his eyes. 

271 




HILDA OF GREY COT 

y ^ 

Jean came forward. “ I think hie wants to rest 
now,” she said gently. 

Hilda bent again to kiss the pale forehead and 
the hand that was already relaxing within her own. 
Then, without another word or look, she went down 
the broad stone steps toward the meadow path and 
took her stumbling way across the fields toward the 
woods. She knew that she should never see Hal 
again. 

She stumbled blindly on through the sunshine, 
putting the old unanswerable question to the smil¬ 
ing summer world about her, “ Why—why? ” She 
said it over and over again as she went, “ Why does 
he have to die? Why must he die? ” 

She walked rapidly until she came to the little 
woods. She did not notice the heat of the day nor 
the roughness of the pathway. The tears in her 
eyes flooded out all memories save the grim 
stretcher-bed and Hal’s pale brave face. Hal’s 
eyes and voice filled her whole world. And the 
question that had no answer kept up its drumming 
beat upon her heart, “ Why—why? ” 

She sat down to wipe her eyes and try to recover 
before she should emerge on the highway beyond 
the woods. Habits of self-control acted in this mo- 
ment of self-forgetfulness, as all habits do. As she 
sat still, trying to gain command over her sobs, 

the memory of the wedding party and Betty’s 

272 


WEDDING FAVORS 

face as she looked down to Lawrence came un¬ 
expectedly back to her. She sat up, surprised at 
the difference in her own way of looking at it 
now. 

“ Betty was right to want her happiness to last 
as long as it could,” she said aloud. “ When it’s 
real true happiness like hers and Lawrence’s, it’s 
worth more than a few blankets or sweaters for 
people’s bodies, for it is the stuff that lasts forever, 

after-” she could not finish, but somehow she 

felt that she had come upon a part, at least, of the 
answer to her aching question. 

Somewhere in the back of her mind rose an old 
verse,—a verse memorized one hot Sunday morn¬ 
ing long ago, and she repeated it under her breath, 
“ While we look, not at the things that are seen but 
at the things that are unseen. For the things that 
are seen are temporal, but the things which are not 
seen are eternal.” 

To her awakened mind came the wider vision. 
She saw that it was the spirit and not the material 
part, that availed. She saw Hal, dying, becoming 
a greater power in the lives he left behind, a vivid 
torch to light the way to greater patriotism, to more 
complete self-abnegation. She saw Carter, sick and 
struggling, fighting a harder battle than any he had 
shared upon the battlefield with his heroic comrades, 
a victory of the will over the flesh. She saw Betty 

273 



HILDA OF GREY COT 


and Lawrence, hand in hand, facing the future’s 
possibilities with happy faces, content with life, 
since they shared it. “ The things which are not 
seen,” she murmured. 

She rose after a little, drying her eyes and draw¬ 
ing a deep breath. “ Yes,” she said softly. “ The 
things which are not seen arc eternal, though I have 
only been thinking of the other sort, blankets and 
the like.” 

As she made her way along the path to the high¬ 
way she shook her head in wonder at her own blind¬ 
ness. “ And I thought myself so clever and prac¬ 
tical,” she said. “ Oh, what an idiot I’ve always 
been! ” 

She walked quickly, once she was on the road, 
for she wanted to reach home and her own room. 
She had gone but a short distance, however, when 
the sound of a motor on the road behind her made 
her step aside to let the machine pass. She did not 
look around when it slowed down. She did not 
want to meet anyone at this time. 

It was Leslie’s voice that halted her as she left 
the road for the side path. He was not looking at 
her, but he held the door of the tonneau open as he 
said quietly: 

“ Better jump in and I’ll whisk you home. No 
use walking in all this heat.” 

Hilda obeyed without a word. She was thankful 

274 


WEDDING FAVORS 

for such kindness but she could not talk. Some¬ 
time she would tell Leslie of those heart-breaking 
moments on the terrace with Hal but just now she 
had no words. She sat still as the car sped on. 
She was clinging to that wider vision, though it was 
harder work now. 

“ The unseen things,” she repeated as though 
the words were a talisman for peace. 

Leslie stopped the car at the edge of the thicket. 
“ The wood-road’s pretty rough for this car. I 
guess you can get home all right,” he said, without 
turning his head as she got out. “ I’m in sort of a 
hurry anyway.” 

Hilda knew that he meant she could slip in the 
back way unnoticed but she accepted his thought 
for her with the same silence, though with a quick¬ 
ened gratitude. 

“ He’s good as gold,—dear old Les,” she thought 
as she made her way along the wood-road. “ I’ll 
tell him how good he is the next time I see him. I 
couldn’t to-day.” 

Jack came upon her as she was entering the back 
drive. He did not seem to notice her red eyes and 
disturbed manner. He was full of news. “ What 
do you think?” he bubbled. “Got an offer for 
Bony. A man saw him when John was exercising 
him just now and he wants to buy him. Isn’t that 

fine and dandy? I told you that horse had blood. 

275 



HILDA OF GREY COT 

I bet when he’s regularly in harness again, he’ll be 
a cracker jack.” 

He halted, seeing all at once that something was 
amiss. Dropping her arm, he muttered something 
about having to attend to Bony’s supper and went 
quickly off toward the stables. 

Hilda could not risk another chance meeting. 
She hurried to her room by the back way and shut 
the door behind her. Her promise to Hal was go¬ 
ing to be very hard to keep, with the picture of that 
grim, narrow bed among its bright surroundings 
and the wasted form of Hal with that strange dig¬ 
nity upon him. 

She flung herself by her bed and buried her face 
in the cover. She must have her hour of mourning, 
though Hal had her promise. 

She did not rise as twilight came on. She did 
not hear the sounds of normal life in the house about 
her, the telephone bell, the step on the stairs. She 
started at the knock on her door and rose stiffly, 
glad of the shadows that hid her disfigured face. 

It was Jack and he spoke very gently. “ I told 
Page you had a headache and wouldn’t be down to 
dinner,” he said. “ She’s all right. And—and 
someone just ’phoned over from MacAllisters’. It 
was Miss Jean, I think. She said he stayed on the 
terrace until the sun went down.” 

He disappeared very quickly. When it was 

276 


WEBBING FAVORS 

quite dark he came again. “ I’ve got the car out by 
the gate,” he said. “ You’d better come along. 
She’ll want to see you, maybe, being’s you’re such 
chums.” 

Hilda was surprised, but she agreed quietly. 
She washed her face and smoothed her hair, putting 
on her hat mechanically before the mirror as she 
always did. The face that looked absently back at 
her was disfigured by grief but it was uplifted by 
a truer courage than in its happier moments. She 
had forgotten to think of herself now. Her whole 
mind was upon Jean and her sorrow. She wished 
to go to her, to give her that word as to the eternal 
things- 




2 77 



CHAPTER XIX 


RESPITE 

In the week that followed Hilda had plenty of 
chance to put her resolution to the test. 

Neither her mother nor Mrs. Bradford returned 
and her problem still hung unsolved. That called 
for much patience and a little courage, too. Wait¬ 
ing is sometimes harder than facing the guns. Her 
promise to Hal as to putting aside her grief for 
him was not easy, though Jean set her a brave ex¬ 
ample. Jean had laid out her own course on that 
last day when she was leaving for Cornwells. 

“ I’m going on just as he wanted us to,” she had 
said simply. “ Just as if he were still over there 
doing service in his plane. I try to think that he’s 
only gone a bit higher up,—that the clouds are 
hiding him for only a little while. That helps. I’ll 
make that Course before October and I’m looking 
to you to keep your end of it. And don’t mope. 
It’s not fair.” 

“ But I can’t go on as if it hadn’t happened,” 
protested Hilda miserably. 44 It seems horrible to 
go about as usual, as though we didn’t miss him. 

People will think it strange, too.” 

278 



RESPITE 


“People!” repeated Jean scornfully. “Why 
care for people? If they don’t understand, they 
don’t matter. Crepe veils and black borders don’t 
measure real grief,—that’s in the heart. I’m not 
afraid of forgetting Hal but I’m afraid of break¬ 
ing my word to him.” 

Hilda remembered her look long after she had 
gone and it helped her to go through her accus¬ 
tomed round of life with a brave front. She suc¬ 
ceeded better perhaps because of Page’s need of 
cheery comradeship, and she felt responsible for 
Page. Her recovery was a matter of great mo¬ 
ment to Hilda. With Page restored to health, 
those wretched bills paid, and a word of endorse¬ 
ment from Mr. Dalton, she knew that her first 
month’s patched accounts would pass muster. 

Page was still kept in the long chair under the 
lindens the greater part of the sunny days but her 
rosy cheeks and bright eyes showed that she could 
hardly be counted a real invalid. Jack said she 
looked like a cold-cream advertisement and that 
was the highest praise he could muster. 

As to Jack himself, he was the best help Hilda 
could have had. He seemed to understand, which 
was wonderful in a boy of his years. He spent 
hours with Page, although he much preferred the 
tennis courts at the club, and he did a hundred little 

unobtrusive acts of kindness which only Hilda saw. 

279 


HILDA OF GREY. COT 

“ And I thought him a young imp at first,” she 
confessed to Page when the latter was relating 
some of Jack’s funny stories. “ I was so sure I 
knew better than Mother,” and she laughed merrily. 

“ Boys are mighty hard to understand, I reckon,” 
remarked Page. “ It’s easier to form an opinion 
of grown folks, I think.” 

“ Oh, yes, a great deal easier,” agreed Hilda con¬ 
fidently. “ It is for me, at an}^ rate. I knew what 
you were the first moment. I’m not often mistaken 
about grown people. One can see what they are,— 
boys are never what they seem.” 

Jack himself hurried up. He was laughing. 
“ What do you think is the matter with Esther 
Marie? ” he said. “ She’s home and she’s been 
’phoning to ask if you’ll be home next Friday. 
Next Friday, mind you,—a week almost. She 
seems sort of crazy to me. I told her I’d tell you 
and send her an engraved reply in the morning.” 

Hilda turned in pleased surprise. “ They’re 
home, then!” she exclaimed. “You’ll like them 
immensely, Page. Miss DuBois is the dearest lit¬ 
tle lady in the world. Esther Marie calls her 
Aunty Lavendar and that describes her. Esther 
Marie has to be seen to be appreciated.” 

“ She’s a red-headed spitfire and she’s stuck on 
Cousin Hilda,” Jack flung over his shoulder as he 

raced away. “ Don’t let her fool you on that.” 

280 


RESPITE 


Hilda laughed as she rose. “He’s set against 
her,” she explained. “ It began before they were 
introduced, as I told you. But you’ll like her. 
She’s really a dear girl. I’ll run over to The Pines 
sometime to-day and ask them over to tea to-mor¬ 
row. No, you needn’t look vexed. You’re one of 
the family now, and you simply must submit.” 

She walked away without waiting for any com¬ 
ment but when she turned to glance back, Page 
was actually smiling after her. A wave of amaze¬ 
ment swept over her. “ I believe she likes to meet 
people, after all,” she marveled. “ She was just 
pretending because she thought it was right.” She 
gave a little chuckle. “ Well, Miss Page Carter, 
you’re grown up but there are a few things about 
you that remain to be seen,” she thought, with 
amusement. 

She intended stopping at The Pines on her way 
home from Mr. Dalton’s, but she made some small 
household purchases on her way through town and 
decided to leave them with Martha before doing 
her errand at the large house. While she was in 
the hall the telephone bell rang and she stox>ped to 
answer it. 

“ The wanderer has returned,” Mrs. Bradford’s 
soft voice told her. “Are you ready to show the 
fruits of your labors? ” 

Hilda’s heart leaped. Fate was kind after all. 

281 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


“ Oh, yes indeed! ” she cried eagerly. “ I’ll go over 
any time you say. The room is quite done and it 
looks lovely. When shall you want to go? ” 

Mrs. Bradford hesitated. “ The rest of this 
afternoon is taken,” she replied with evident re¬ 
gret. “ And to-morrow afternoon also. How 
would the morning suit? ” 

Hilda had to tell her that her lesson took her 
morning, and then a bright idea struck her. “ Why 
not come down to see Mr. Dalton’s tapestries while 
I am there?” she asked. “ Then we might run out 
to Hampton before lunch if we are quick.” 

This suited perfectly and she hung up with a 
sigh of relief. Her perplexities were about to be 
solved,—the bills would be paid in a day at the ut¬ 
most. The burden which she had tried to ignore 
but which had weighed heavily, dropped off and she 
was free. She decided to let her visit to The Pines 
wait and to go over her accounts very carefully 
once more. She would have everything in faultless 
shape for the morrow. 

Martha halted her on her wav out to the lindens. 
“ If you please, Miss Hilda, I’ll need that lettuce 
you promised to bring, if we’re to have salad; 
John’s off with that horse of Master Jack’s or he 
might go,” she said with a hint of reproach in her 
tone. 

Hilda started. “ Didn’t I get the lettuce? ” she 

282 



RESPITE 


asked. “ It must have been on the list. Well, I’ll 
rush down and have it for you, Martha, in just two 
jumps.” 

She waved to Page as she went out. “ It’s the 
penalty for living out here in this lovely spot where 
there aren’t any shops,” she thought, but she did 
not care. Everything was rose-colored now. Pier 
suspense was ended and the world was beautiful to 
her. She was ready to write to Elizabeth Landis 
that she was going to be ready for the opening of 
the office in October. 

She raced to the shop and back in a glow of 
happy dreams. She saw nothing but glistening 
gold-lettered signs bearing the name of the firm, 
neat office fixtures and the businesslike trio who 
were at the head of affairs in that sanctum. 

It was a glimpse of the group on the lawn that 
stopped her hurrying thoughts with a jolt of happi¬ 
ness. 

“Mother! Oh, how simply gorgeous! She’s 
come on that three-fifty and I never dreamed she’d 
be here to-day,” she said ecstatically, steering in the 
back entrance with a rather uncertain hand. 

She was out of the car and in her mother’s arms 
in an instant. She felt that she had never known 
how dear a place those clinging arms could be, nor 
how sweet the touch of her mother’s warm lips. 

She looked, starry-eyed, into her mother’s glowing 

283 


HILDA OF GREY COX 

face. “ Oh, but it’s good to see you,” she breathed. 
“ I’ve been simply lost without you! ” 

Mrs. Hare looked deep into the upturned eyes, 
smiling her most tender smile. She did not speak, 
but there was no need for words. The moment was 
one of intense joy to each. The joy remained after 
the actual second of time had gone, and they were 
seated by Page’s chair and the talk had begun 
briskly. Hilda felt the thrill of it while she listened 
to her mother’s account of Aunt Alice’s illness and 
the trip to Mount Clemens, while she herself told 
of the many happenings during her mother’s ab¬ 
sence, and while Jack and even Page joined in the 
talk, each adding their share to the eager chat. 

It made her rather serious, though, as the 
shadows lengthened and the hour for going indoors 
to make ready for dinner drew on. She rose when 
her mother did, leaving Jack beside Page’s 
chair, and she walked close beside her toward the 
house. 

Her voice was just a bit husky as she said, in her 
direct fashion, “ Mother, can you spare me a half 
hour? I shan’t keep you longer than that.” 

Mrs. Hare glanced at her watch. “ I think, my 
dear, that I’ll beg off from business to-night,” she 
said with a smile. “ I think I know what you want, 
and am sure you are willing to wait. To-morrow 
will do, will it not?” 


284 


RESPITE 


Hilda was forced to say it would. On reflection 
she was rather glad of the respite. She remembered 
her engagement with Mrs. Bradford and concluded 
she would postpone the reckoning until after she 
had seen the owner of the lovely little room at 
Hampton. 

When she joined the others in the dining-room 
she was her usual gay self again, and she was quite 
ready to tease Jack a bit, in friendly fashion, about 
his belief in his powers as a stage charmer. 

He had been telling his Aunt Cynthia of his trip 
with the Williams’ and naturally had not kept his 
success in the theatrical line wholly out of the pic¬ 
ture. He took her laughing disbelief with his usual 
seriousness. “ I’ll show you all some day,” he began 
with that determined wag of his head that was now 
so familiar. “ I’ll show-” 

Just what he was going to show them did not ap¬ 
pear, for a form flashed past the windows, a step 
sounded in the entrance-hall and a voice cried 
eagerly behind Hilda: 

“ Oh, I’m so thankful to find you at home and 
entirely alive! I was perfectly certain that you 
must be quite shattered when I saw that chair and 
pillows out on the lawn! ” 

It was Esther Marie, of course. 

She halted with a catching breath when she saw 

the others who were about to seat themselves at the 

285 



HILDA OF GREY COT 


table. A wave of vivid color swept over her face 
and she turned to Hilda with swift apology. 

“ I thought you were alone, you know, like you 
used to be,” she explained in great embarrassment. 
“ I never stopped to ask anyone about you. I just 
ran over the very moment I could get off. I-” 

“ You came at the right moment, my dear,” 
smiled Mrs. Hare. “We are debating a serious 
subject and we need an uneven number for vot¬ 
ing. John will bring a plate and you must join 
us.” 

Her acceptance of Esther Marie as a matter of 
course was just the right thing. It was also the 
way to Esther Marie’s impulsive yet discerning 
heart. She flashed a grateful look at Mrs. Hare as 
she answered with instant gratitude: 

“ Indeed, I should love to stop, Mrs. Hare,—for 
I know you are Mrs. Hare,—but I must go straight 
back. No one knows I am here and Miss DuBois 
will worry if I’m away long. Ever since my 
drowning, she worries when I’m away. I’ll come 
over in the morning, if I may.” 

Hilda had an idea, inspired by her mother’s tact¬ 
ful kindness. “Why not let me ’phone that you 
are here? ” she said. “ You must get better ac¬ 
quainted with Mother, now that she’s home at last. 
And you haven’t met Page, either. There are two 

perfectly good reasons for staying. We’ll see that 

286 



RESPITE 

you’re sent home before twilight, won’t we, 
Mother? ” 

Esther Marie was plainly allured by this pro¬ 
posal but she waited for Mrs. Hare to endorse it 
before she gratefully agreed that it would be a won¬ 
derful plan. She sat down with a sigh of deep sat¬ 
isfaction in the chair next to Mrs. Hare which Jack 
quickly placed for her, and Hilda, as she went to 
telephone to The Pines, heard her say with great 
emphasis, “ I little thought, Mrs. Hare, when I 
was rushing over here, that this was awaiting me! ” 

Hilda laughed to herself at the ardor of the 
speech but she liked it, nevertheless. It was so sin¬ 
cere. And she liked Esther Marie all the better for 
having fallen so ready a victim to her mother’s 
charm. 

She went back, after having Miss DuBois’ as¬ 
surances that it was very kind indeed of them to be 
so good to Esther Marie, and she found that young 
lady already very much at home in the little circle. 
She was rather quieter than usual, but her big eyes 
were shining and her cheeks flushed with pleasant 
excitement and she was listening to the merry chat 
between Mrs. Hare, Page and Jack with avid in¬ 
terest. 

She told Hilda afterward that she had never been 
“ really inside ” of a nice family before. Most of 

the people she knew, she stated, were either stupid 

287 


HILDA OF GREY] COT 

or liked other things—by which she evidently 
meant things in which she herself had scant interest. 

The meal was a very gay one, since each had 
many things to tell and it prolonged itself almost 
to the twilight hour when Esther Marie was vowed 
to departure. As they rose from the table, Jack 
surprised Hilda greatly by offering to take Esther 
Marie home. He had evidently gotten over his 
greatest aversion of her, although he plainly con¬ 
sidered the duty of escorting this mere child,— 
and red-headed at that,—as a necessity, not a pleas¬ 
ure. 

Esther Marie waited for Mrs. Hare to accept for 
her and then she added her own thanks. As they 
went off together, Jack rather stiff and patroniz¬ 
ing, Hilda heard her vivid voice quite clearly. 

“ Then you’ll see my horrid snakes, too. You’ve 
never been over to get them, you know, though I 
offered them to you ages and ages ago.” 

Jack’s reply was indistinct but it sounded in¬ 
different. 

Hilda smiled at her mother as they disappeared 
along the way to the wood-road. “ Isn’t that just 
like a boy? ” she said. “ They snub the girls who’d 
be the best chums, and make little idiots of them¬ 
selves over dolls like Janey Sloan,” and then, Page 
being gone to her room, she told her mother the 

story of the dress-clothes. “ He’d never have got 

288 


RESPITE 

them in the world, except to dazzle Janey,” she 
ended. 

Mrs. Hare shook her head, laughing. “ I won¬ 
dered why he wrote so persistently,” she said. 
“ His Aunt Alice was surprised at his choice of a 
birthday gift, too. He’s usually so given to com¬ 
fort and old clothes.” 

“ He’s a dear, though, as you said, Mother,” 
Hilda went on, growing more serious. She told 
her mother of his offer of money and his strenuous 
mornings with the lawn-mower. 

Mrs. Hare listened attentively. She made little 
comment but asked many questions as to Jack’s 
share in Page’s hospital expenses. 

“ He did without sodas for an age, and that’s the 
limit for him,” Hilda wound up warmly. “ Pie’s a 
dear, and he’s been a good chum to me. I’d never 
have really known him if I hadn’t been in a corner 
like that.” 

Mrs. Hare agreed. She laid a warm hand on 
Hilda’s across the summer-house table. “ Sorrow 
often shows us more real beauty than joy ever can,” 
she said thoughtfully, adding in another tone, “ But 
why did you not tell me of your having rescued 
your young friend from a watery grave, as she 
puts it? I had not heard of it until she told me 
while you and Jack were helping Page up-stairs.” 

Hilda opened her eyes. “ I forgot it,” she con- 

289 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


fessed. “ I thought I’d written you about it. It 
really wasn’t anything to make a fuss over. Esther 
Marie is so terribly enthusiastic over little things! ” 

Mrs. Hare waited. “ And this little thing—just 
how did it happen? ” she asked lightly. 

“ I heard her call for help and I dived off the dam- 
breast at Mullen’s,” replied Hilda easily. “ It was 
perfectly simple. I had kicked off my slippers in 
the car. My clothes were light and she was right 
there where I could get her. Annie helped pull 
her in and we had Betty’s machine to rush her home. 
It was all over in a jiffy.” 

Mrs. Hare seemed satisfied with this brief ac¬ 
count of the disaster, and to Hilda’s relief nothing 
more was said on the subject. Jack came home 
from The Pines after an extended absence and his 
talk for the rest of the evening veered constantly 
toward the habits of harmless snakes. He went to 
bed early, saying he had something to do before 
breakfast and must get ready for it. 

Hilda went up-stairs in a hopeful frame of mind. 
Her mother had come back at exactly the right 
moment. At luncheon to-morrow she intended to 
ask for the important interview. 

“ I’ll have the money and perhaps I’ll have had 
time to slip down to pay before I come home,” she 
thought. It is lucky Mother doesn’t want the car 
in the morning.” 


290 


CHAPTER XX 


jack's masquerade 

Mr. Dalton rubbed his nose reflectively. 
“ Bring her by all means,” he agreed cordially. 
“ Telephone to her now,—we are here and ready,— 
and ask her to come at once.” He added, smiling 
at Hilda’s eager acceptance, “ I don’t promise to 
show those pieces in the alcove, mind you. They 
are only for the elect. I don’t show them to every¬ 
one.” 

Hilda was delighted. She liked things to move 
rapidly. She went to the telephone on the side 
table with a gratified feeling that she was one of 
Mr. Dalton’s elect,—for had he not shown her the 
priceless old tapestries of the alcove with their 
faded landscapes and their queer impressive figures? 
Yes, not once, but a number of times until she now 
was quite familiar with them. 

“ She will be here in half an hour,” she reported. 
“ She’s always prompt, so we can expect her on 
time. I think you’ll admire her very much, for 

she’s quite the loveliest person I’ve seen for ages.” 

291 





HILDA OE GREY/ COT 

He stroked his smooth beard, chuckling softly. 
u No doubt she will be an agreeable object, an 
harmonious human object among my tapestries,” 
he returned, “ but don’t expect me to share your 
enthusiasms, young lady. I’ve seen too many won¬ 
derful works of art to be captivated easily by hu¬ 
man beings,—however lovely.” 

His lenient tone made Hilda feel quite a little 
girl. She did not mind it, however; she knew she 
should have her enjoyment in watching his admira¬ 
tion for Mrs. Bradford grow under her eyes when 
that graceful lady should arrive. She looked at the 
clock impatiently, wishing the half hour gone. 

Mrs. Bradford did not keep them waiting quite 
the full time. Five minutes before the clock hands 
showed the appointed time, there was the rustle of 
draperies, a sound of footfalls on the soft rugs, and 
the man announced, “ Mrs. Bradford.” 

She came in with her face alight and the most 
beautiful expectant expression,—not too eager, and 
yet intensely interested. Hilda thought she had 
never seen her look so charming. She was wearing 
one of her lovely clinging gowns of violet and white 
and a wide thin hat cast a slight shadow over her 
perfect face. 

“It is wonderfully good of you to allow me to 
see your treasures,” she told Mr. Dalton, as the 

introductions were made and Hilda subsided 

292 


JACICS MASQUERADE 

slightly into the background, wishing to watch the 
effect her friend would produce. 

Mr. Dalton bowed in his fine manner and as¬ 
sured Mrs. Bradford that it was always a great bit 
of good fortune to share any treasure with those 
who had eyes. Hilda could see that he was rather 
more impressed than he had thought to be. 

She smiled to herself as they went to the inner 
room where the tapestries were kept. “ He’s find¬ 
ing that I didn’t exaggerate a bit,” she thought. 
“ He finds that she’s something more than a har¬ 
monious human object, I believe.” 

She smiled still more when she saw how com¬ 
pletely the other two seemed to forget her. They 
talked earnestly of weaves and patterns, and if 
Mrs. Bradford made some few mistakes now and 
again, it w r as hardly noted in the flow of eager talk. 
Mr. Dalton did not unveil the alcove, however. 

He had his hand on the shrouding curtains and 
Hilda knew he would switch on the light before he 
drew back the curtain. She waited in pleasant an¬ 
ticipation of the moment. But the moment never 
came. 

As he raised his hand toward the button, a move¬ 
ment of Mrs. Bradford’s seemed to arrest his arm. 
He turned sharply to her, as she stood in the middle 
of the room, her head in profile to him while 
her eyes rested on the great bees in the border 

293 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

of the ancient tapestry work on the opposite 
wall. 

“ Surely I’ve seen you somewhere, Mrs. Brad¬ 
ford,” he said quite suddenly. 44 I’m quite positive 
that I have seen you before. I recall just that tilt 
of the head—yes, undoubtedly I have seen you,— 
but where? ” 

Mrs. Bradford had started ever so slightly and 
Hilda saw with concern that she looked pale under 
the light of the ceiling lamps,—she really grew 
quite white,—it was only for the fraction of a sec¬ 
ond, however, and she was herself again as she 
turned to Mr. Dalton with mild surprise. 

44 Indeed, I can’t recall any meeting,” she said 
with a tone of regret. 44 1 think it must be some¬ 
one else. If I had met you before I am certain that 
I should remember it,—you are not at all the usual 
man one meets everywhere.” 

The deft touch of flattery expressed such honest 
admiration for the impressive, cultured owner of 
the tapestries that Hilda found it very acceptable. 
Mr. Dalton was not the sort of man one met everv 
day. He was a distinguished figure in any situa¬ 
tion,—Hilda had realized that the first time she 
saw him. She felt that Mrs. Bradford had said a 
very true and very agreeable thing. 

But Mr. Dalton paid no attention to the phrase. 
He stood with the folds of the curtain in his fingers, 

•°94 



JACK S MASQUERADE 

frowning a little to recall the varied pictures of the 
past. He looked at Mrs. Bradford with searching, 
kind eyes. “ I can’t recall it just now, but it will 
come to me,” he said slowly. “ It will come to me. 
I never forget a face. And there’s some associa¬ 
tion with your face, Mrs. Bradford, that makes me 
anxious to place you. I don’t know what it is at 
this moment, but I feel that it’s something rather 
interesting. Yes, I shall be glad to have it come 
back.” 

Mrs. Bradford smiled graciously. “ I shall look 
forward with much interest,” she began, and then 
she gave a little exclamation of dismay as the clock 
in the corner of the room chimed softly, one stroke 
after another, announcing noon. “ Oh, I’m so 
sorry,” she said with much regret in her voice. I 
simply cannot stop a moment longer. I am over¬ 
due at an important axipointment. Will you ever 
forgive me for running away at this time? I as¬ 
sure you I should not do it if the matter were not 
of grave importance.” 

She held out her hand in farewell as she spoke, 
and Hilda, forgetting for the moment her own im¬ 
portant engagement with the lady, saw that Mr. 
Dalton took her explanation in good part. 

“ The tapestries will wait your leisure,” he re¬ 
turned in his most courteous manner. “ I should 

be the last person in the world to want to defer an 

295 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


important business affair. We shall only postpone 
the pleasure.” He evidently thought the more 
highly of his visitor that she should recall and keep 
her engagement when occupied with more agree¬ 
able matters. 

The regrets and farewells were gracefully said 
by Mrs. Bradford and with a last appreciative 
glance at the whole room, she went out, ushered by 
the man-servant who waited always in the hall. 

Hilda turned eagerly to Mr. Dalton. “ Isn’t she 
as lovely as I said? ” she asked. 

“ Quite, quite so,” he replied heartily. And then 
the puzzled look came back to his face. 44 But I 
shall remember where I saw that face. It’s just on 
the edge of my mind,—it will soon come back.” 

Hilda had time to remember her own appoint¬ 
ment and to feel sharp regret as she gathered up 
her books and papers. She was at the door when 
she was called back. It was Mrs. Bradford’s soft 
voice on the telephone assuring her that she would 
keep her engagement later in the day. “ I’ll ’phone 
you as soon as I have a moment,” she promised, and 
Hilda’s sky cleared again. 

After luncheon nothing was said by her mother 
about the account books and Hilda was only too 
glad to keep silent. Miss DuBois had sent word 
in a polite little note that she would waive cere¬ 
mony and come over about four o’clock to meet 

296 


JACK S MASQUERADE 

Miss Hilda’s mother. Esther Marie had added a 
postcript. 

“ Auntv Lavendar thinks I am a wild Indian 
for wanting it, but will you please, please come over 
with us afterward? I want you,—you alone, to see 
my rooms. I have a particular reason for wanting 
it. Always, E. M. P. P. S. Miss Page, too, of 
course.” 

This put the account books further in the back¬ 
ground and Mrs. Hare’s willingness to do whatever 
the rest wanted, disposed of the afternoon to the 
very last moment. Miss DuBois and her young 
charge arrived promptly at four and after a happy 
hour together under the lindens,—an hour in which 
they all got marvelously well acquainted,—the big 
limousine took them all, excepting Jack who had 
disappeared early, over to The Pines. 

Hilda was rather surprised and a little disap¬ 
pointed to find nothing very wonderful in Esther 
Marie’s three big rooms, when she was secretly 
ushered up to them while the others looked at some 
rare prints in the drawing-room. The cage with 
the thrush and the new Martha Washington rug 
both seemed out of place, though Esther Marie 
beamed with delight in them. Her manner was 
odder than Hilda had seen it. She walked about 

the rooms each in turn, talking of their stupid old 

297 



HILDA OF GREY COT 


furniture and then suddenly switching the subject 
to her gratitude to Hilda. Altogether the secret 
expedition failed to come up to Esther Marie’s 
postscript. It was rather flat and tame. 

Mrs. Hare parted from Miss DuBois with genu¬ 
ine friendliness and Page seemed to regret leaving 
the dear little old lady. “ She’s mighty like an 
aunty of mine who died four years ago,” she said 
as they drove home through the gathering dusk. 
She seemed somewhat tired from her first trip 
abroad and went directly to her room when they 
reached Grey Cot. 

John halted Mrs. Hare in the hall. “ If you 
please, Mrs. Hare, the telephone’s been asking for 
you for half an hour. I thought you’d be in soon, 
so I let them wait.” 

As he went out Mrs. Hare took up the receiver. 
In the silence of the hall the gruff tones were clear 
to Hilda. 

“ I want Mrs. Philip Hare and I want her 
quick!” 

Hilda and her mother exchanged glances, as Mrs. 
Hare replied. 

The gruff voice went on. “ You’re wanted at 
Police Station Number 10, Mrs. Hare. We’ve got 
Miss Hare here. She’s been arrested for speeding 
and she wants you to fix it up for her. Station 

Number 10, and be quick, if you please.” 

298 


JACK'S MASQUERADE 

The receiver clicked shut with a snap. They 
looked at each other in amazement. Mrs. Hare 
rose briskly. “ They’ve probably made some mis¬ 
take in the name, but the simplest way will be to 
get in the car and run down. It might be one of 
the girls, Alice or Janey,—who wanted to keep the 
matter quiet.” 

Hilda agreed and they hurried off leaving a mes¬ 
sage for Page if she should come down before their 
return. 

It was not until they were on the threshold of the 
Police Station and were actually stepping inside the 
unattractive, orderly room that the solution of the 
puzzle flashed on Hilda’s unbelieving eyes. She 
gave a gulp of irrepressible laughter. “ Oh, 
o-o-oh! ” she gurgled. “ How did he ever-” 

At the far end of the room sat a strangely fa¬ 
miliar figure. 

It was one that Hilda had often see in her mirror 
when she prepared to go on errands. It wore a 
linen motor suit and had its hat tilted at a becoming 
angle on its straight light hair. Its nose was like¬ 
wise tilted at an angle like Hilda’s own nose; only 
its queer light eyes betrayed it. 

“ Jack! ” she cried in a burst of merriment, run¬ 
ning to him and laying a hand on the linen shoul¬ 
der. “ How in the world could you do it so well? 

I-” 


299 




HILDA OR GREY, COT 


One of the burly policemen who guarded each 
side of the prisoner raised his hand in protest. 
“ Sorry, lady, but you’ll have to fix it up with the 
Sergeant at the desk there. This here prisoner 
ain’t to be tampered with.” 

Hilda left that part of the affair to her mother 
and she did not move, although she took her hand 
away. She stood looking down at Jack, who after 
the first glance, cast his eyes down and refused to 
return her gaze, and she laughed silently at the 
modest figure of the sham Miss Hare between the 
two stout guardians. Her amusement seemed to 
irritate the men. 

“ She looks mild enough, but she’s got muscle, 
I can tell you,” grumbled the fatter one, speak¬ 
ing to the air. “ She caught me a crack in the 
ribs with her elbow that I won’t forget in a 
hurry.” 

“ Tried to pass herself off for someone else, too,” 
muttered the other. “ But I’d seen her picture in 
the paper in that very rig in the photo section, and 
I knew she was the Hare girl. No foolin’ your 
Uncle Dudley! ” 

Jack flashed a look up at that and remarked in a 
perfectly girlish voice, “ These horrid men don’t 
know how to treat a voung lady at all. Cousin 
Hilda.” 

Hilda could not keep in her laughter. The imi- 

300 


JACKS MASQUERADE 

tation young lady was so absolutely real to eye and 
ear. You win, Jack,” she said. “ I’ll believe 
your tales about the Williams’ play after this. You 
could fool anybody,—even me. How can you do 
it? ” 

Her enjoyment of Jack’s cleverness was cut short 
by the man at the desk, who motioned to the officers 
to bring the prisoner nearer. 

It took some time to adjust the matter. Mrs. 
Hare had to ask Jack to remove the light wig that 
gave him such a remarkable resemblance to Hilda 
and then to explain the reason for the masquerade. 
She also suggested that the affair be kept from the 
papers; and after some discussion it was happily 
disposed of. 

Mrs. Hare gravely motioned to Jack, in the 
hired roadster in which he had been arrested, to take 
the lead, while she and Hilda followed in the four¬ 
some. Not much was said on the way home, as 
Hilda saw that her mother was deeply disturbed. 
She herself could see only fun in the incident, and 
she bubbled over more than once, quickly subduing 
her amusement, however, out of deference to her 
mother’s grave face. 

Page was still up-stairs and the trio made their 
way indoors unseen and halted in the library, where 
Mrs. Hare turned to Jack with a stern look in her 
fine eyes. 


301 



HILDA OF GREY COT 


“And now, Jack, I shall ask you why you chose 
to impersonate Hilda, running the risk of bringing 
her name into undesirable prominence? ” 

Jack, with his wig under his arm and his dark 
hair very much mussed, was a rather funny figure. 
He looked very uncomfortable, but his gaze was 
clear and steady as he met his aunt’s reproachful 
eves. 

“ I never thought of getting Cousin Hilda into 
anything, honest I didn’t, Aunt Cynthia,” he re¬ 
plied with convincing emphasis. “ I only thought 
about proving I could act like a girl. I thought 
I’d do it and then she’d see. It all came up so sud¬ 
denly. I didn’t think of it until after I answered 
the ’phone.” 

“ Who-” broke in Hilda, but Mrs. Hare 

motioned her to silence. 

“ We will let Jack tell his story as he wishes,” 
she said quietly. 

Jack went on, wrinkling his forehead in the ef¬ 
fort to recall precisely the order of events. “ Mrs. 
Bradford thought I was Cousin Hilda and she said 
she’d found she could get off after all. She said 
she was ready to keep her engagement this after¬ 
noon.” 

He stopped to gather memory and then went on 
with growing confidence, while they listened in¬ 
tently. 


302 



JACK’S MASQUERADE 

“ When she said that, it came into my head that 
here was the chance to show that I could fool anv- 
one. I knew if Mrs. Bradford took me for Cousin 
Hilda after all the time she’d known her, you’d all 
believe me about the play. So I just tried to talk 
like Cousin Hilda, and said I’d be over right away. 
And then I scooted down to Sear’s, got the ma¬ 
chine and got the wig, and came back here and 
dressed without anyone seeing me. It was easy. 
Mrs. Bradford never knew the difference. I’d 
have pulled it off all right if it hadn’t been for that 
big stiff of a traffic cop just by the Matthews’ 
Plant,—he’s too particular for words. He scooted 
after us, just when I put on a bit of gas to get the 
lady over to the apartment in a hurry. She was 
talking a lot of stuff I didn’t understand about cur¬ 
tains and rugs and all that, and I wanted to get her 
off my hands.” 

Hilda’s exclamation passed unheeded, and she 
was glad it did. This was no time to reveal her 
schemes for decorative fame. 

Jack went on without a pause. “ The cop whis¬ 
tled and she clutched my arm like furv,—she 
seemed awfully scary,—just as though she thought 
the cop might shoot us. He wasn’t going to do a 
thing, except scare us a bit. I knew that. But 
she got all upset over it and asked me to hurry back 
to town. So, as soon as we got around the second 

303 




HILDA OF GREY COT 

corner I put on the gas and we just moved. I 
guess you know the rest.” 

Mrs. Hare looked puzzled. “ But Mrs. Brad¬ 
ford—what became of her? Nothing was said of 
her at the Police Station.” 

“ Oh, she slipped off when the fat fellow pinched 
me,” he explained easily. “ The top was up and he 
didn’t seem to see whether there were two or a 
dozen in the machine. I slowed down at the corner 
where some people were waiting for the trolley and 
she was off before he came up. I was mighty glad 
of it. Didn’t want to get any of your friends in a 
scrape, you know.” 

Mrs. Hare looked rather relieved as the storv 
ended, although her voice was still grave as she told 
Jack to go up and change his borrowed clothes for 
his own as quickly as he could and to say nothing of 
the affair to anyone. 

Jack went willingly enough. He halted at the 
landing, however, to look down. “ Come on up, 
Cousin Hilda, and help with the obsequies,” he 
called. 

There was a compelling tone in his careless invi¬ 
tation that reached an anxious place in Hilda’s 
brain. She ran lightly up the stairs after him and 
followed him into his spacious airy room. 

As soon as they faced each other, his careless 
manner dropped from him. “ That Mrs. Brad- 

304 


JACK S MASQUERADE 

ford,” he began abruptly, “ she’s seemed queer to 
me, talked of being so much indebted to you. What 
did she mean? You aren’t in any more secret 
scrapes, helping the needy, are you? ” 

Hilda could not help smiling at his paternal air. 
“ No, my infant,” she assured him kindly. “ It 
isn’t a scrape at all,—it’s just business.” 

Jack stared. “ I wouldn’t do business with a 
woman, unless I knew her pretty well,” he began 
doubtfully. 

Hilda’s laughter put him to confusion. “ Well, 
anyway, I’d see that I knew who she was right 
quick,” he insisted. “ She talked as though you 
were spending money on her, and I happen to know 
that you haven’t any spare change at the present 
moment. Won’t you tell me what she meant? ” 

“ No, I won’t, because I can’t just now,” re¬ 
turned Hilda, touched by the genuine concern in 
his face and voice. tk It’s all right, Jackie boy. 
You’ll hear all about it later on. It’s just business, 
as I said. You’d better hurry into your own clothes 
now, or you’ll be late for dinner.” 

She went smiling down-stairs to her room for her 
own preparations. The whole affair was very 
funny to her. And vet, as she dressed, a dim fore- 
boding that Jack’s warning might have some sense 
in it made her vaguely uneasy. Since her mother’s 
return she had begun to lose the fine edge of her 

305 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


glowing admiration of Mrs. Bradford. It might 

have been the satisfaction in the happiness of a 

united circle, or it might have been that the absolute 

sincerity of Mrs. Hare’s lovely face made that other 

lovelv face seem a shade less attractive. 

%/ 

“ I’ll call her up on the ’phone and explain the 
best I can, and I’ll take the bills over to her in the 
morning,” she decided as she stood by the open win¬ 
dow staring out into the starlit night. Soft sum¬ 
mer sounds of insect and drowsy stirring bird came 
to her among the murmured drone of the leafy 
branches; the Milky Way gleamed across the dark¬ 
ling sky, a web of magic beauty. She felt the 
peace of the brooding summer night enter her heart. 
The haunting little shadow dimmed and faded. 

Suddenly she laughed at the memory of Jack at 
the Police Station. “ He won the wager, after 
all,” she said. “ He certainly did look exactly like 
a girl in those clothes.” 


306 


CHAPTER XXI 


PROFIT AND FOSS 

Mr. Dalton, in the midst of a talk on wall-sur¬ 
faces, stopped abruptly and put down his pencil. 
“ I’ve got it,” he said, and then shook his head. 
“ But, oh, it couldn’t be—that was at Belmont, 
South Carolina—and she was a Mrs. Drew—no, it 
can’t be.” 

Then he chewed his beard as he did when dis¬ 
turbed and added slowly, “ It is the same face, the 
same profile-” 

Hilda could get no more from him than that, but 
it set her wondering. 

She had to stop at Harkin’s on her way to the 
Ardsmore,—she had told Mrs. Bradford she would 
be over to see her about half-after eleven,—and it 
was there in the oriental department that she got a 
decided shock. The clerk from the credit depart¬ 
ment did not see Hilda behind the stand full of 
silken garments and his tone was crisp with annoy¬ 
ance. 

44 That bill for the Ardsmore has come back,” he 
said in a sharp tone. “ Check returned from the 
bank. Don’t sell any more to that party until we 

307 





HILDA OF GREY COT 


find out what’s up. Don’t be too clumsy about it, 
nothing she might take offense at—only no more 
oriental goods for that account.” 

The clerk stared and grinned,—it was an every¬ 
day matter to him. “ I know, the one who gets 
those flowered kimonos, lavender-and-white with 
the wisteria and had the monogram put on them,” 
he replied cheerfully. “ I’ll see to it.” 

Hilda heard with horror. She could not believe 
her own ears. Mrs. Bradford had shown her two 
lavender kimonos with the same decorations! 

She went hastily over to the Ardsmore, only to 
find that Mrs. Bradford had left the night before 
to be gone a few days. She made very sure that 
the clerk expected her back. He told her that the 
lady had left her rooms just as they were, trunks 
and all, so it was certain she would return. 

Some uneasy feeling, made stronger by the mem¬ 
ory of Jack’s words, kept her from going straight 
home. She got in the trolley for Northwood, the 
suburb where the Row was located, and went to the 

clerk for her kev. He handed it to her with a 

%/ 

smile. “ You folks in Number Fourteen are get¬ 
ting busy these days. Mrs. Bradford was out here 
last night, they tell me, with a big seven-passenger 
car.” 

“ Oh, she must be moving in after all,” exclaimed 
Hilda without thinking. 

308 


PROFIT AND LOSS 


“ Well, no, not exactly/’ the man answered 
cheerfully. “ She took a lot of stuff out with her, 
I hear,—was going to change some of the goods 
that were sent here by mistake.” 

Hilda did not need the key to realize that her 
dreams were shattered. Nevertheless, she went up 
to the little room and stood staring at the wreck of 
so much happy hope and willing service. The 
paper, the furniture, and the two pictures were still 
there, but all else was gone. The filmy curtains, 
the rich hangings, the fine rugs, the lovely cushions, 
all were gone. The little ivory figure which had 
been her crowning extravagance had disappeared 
with the rest and, strange to say, it was this that 
proved the straw for Hilda. 

She sat down in the deep soft armchair by the 
hearth and clinched her hands beneath her chin. 
She would not weep, she would not cry out,—it 
went too deep for that; she simply sat very tense 
and still, hating Mrs. Bradford as she had never 
hated anyone in all her serene, sheltered life. 

After a while she sat up very straight, and drew 
in a deep hard breath. She opened her bag and 
took out the little sheaf of bills,—the handwriting 
on the wall of her castle of dreams! 

“ It’ll take me months to pay them, but I’ll clear 
off every cent,” she said fiercely. “ It doesn’t make 
any difference who has the stuff, I bought it and I’ll 

309 





HILDA OF GREY COT 


have to pay. I’ll lose the partnership, of eourse, 
and I’ll break my word to Hal, but it’s too late to 
change that now. The one thing that’s to be done 
is to pay these bills.” 

She got up and moved restlessly about. She 
dreaded going home. She shrank from meeting 
her mother. Her hatred of Mrs. Bradford had 
changed into a loathing of herself. If she had only 
not been so sure of her own opinion! If she had 
only had sense enough to confess the first moment 
of her mother’s home-coming! “I was so abomi¬ 
nably sure of myself,” she said bitterly. “ So 
clever and businesslike and able to take care of my¬ 
self! That burnt jam hasn’t taught me a thing.” 

As she walked back and forth this passionate dis¬ 
gust of herself faded to give place to another mood. 
She halted and faced about as at a command. She 
was answering the call of her conscience. The an¬ 
ger faded from her face and the light of a steady 
purpose dawned there. She looked very tired, very 
sad, but she looked straight ahead. 

“ I’ll go down to the stores and tell them I shall 
have to make them wait for most of the bills,” she 
said firmly, “ and then I’ll go home and tell Mother 
every last thing about it. I can’t be in the partner¬ 
ship, but I can be something better than a sniffling 
coward. I’ll take my medicine, no matter how 
much it hurts.” 


310 


PROFIT AND LOSS 


She made her rounds and felt somewhat com¬ 
forted by the courteous way her brief statements 
were received. She went home then, knowing that 
she was very late for luncheon and rather hoping 
the others might have left the dining-room. 

They were there, however, all talking excitedly. 
Page looked up with shining eyes as Hilda entered, 
but it was Jack who told her what they were dis¬ 
cussing. 

“Aunt Cynthia says that Page’s bank ought to 
pay her part of her money back,” he said jubilantly. 
“ She’s been finding out about it this morning and 
she says it’s going to be all right. Page will get 
some of her cash, sure as shooting.” 

Hilda had thought herself beyond gladness, but 
she was genuinely glad. She stopped to drop a 
kiss on Page’s dimpled cheek and, with an arm 
about her, told her how splendid it was to hear such 
good news. She was able to sit among them and 
eat some lunch and to her surprise she found that 
she was actually very hungry after the emotions of 
the morning. 

Page halted her as she was going to her room. 

“ I suppose if I’d been different,—more experi¬ 
enced,—I’d have known about such things,” she 
said wistfully. “ But when Mr. Aiman wrote me 
that the bank had failed and he could send me no 
more money, I just wrote back that I was sorry but 

311 



HILDA OF GREY COT 


not to distress himself about it. I felt so sorry for 
him, knowing how anyone would feel about losing 
other people’s money.” 

Hilda smiled rather grimly. “ Some people 

don’t care about that,” she returned. “ It’s fine, 

though, that there’s a chance of you getting your 

money.” 

«/ 

“ It would be mighty nice,” answered Page dubi¬ 
ously, “ but,—now don’t laugh, Hilda,—but I saw 
a white cat the first thing this morning, and white 
cats before breakfast are mighty bad luck.” 

“ Oh, you little goose! ” cried Hilda in derision. 
“ Do you really think a white cat could make any 
difference? If God means your good fortune to 
come to you all the cats in the world couldn’t hin¬ 
der. What did that owl on your sill at the Marta- 

•/ 

Marie amount to? ” 

“Well, I was sick afterward, wasn’t I?” asked 

Page, bewildered by this attack on old traditions. 

“And Carter certainly was ill.” 

«/ 

“ Pooh, you saw the owl after you had your bad 
news, remember that,” persisted Hilda, now very 
much in earnest. “And your illness came a good 
while afterward. Anyway, how can you blame a 
poor innocent bird for what happens to human be¬ 
ings? It seems sort of lack of faith to me. I think 
you were the owl. If you’d had your eyes open, 

you might have had your money and been quite 

312 




PROFIT AND LOSS 


comfortable and not worked yourself into pneumo¬ 
nia in the horrid old store.” 

“ I reckon you’re right,” Page confessed thought¬ 
fully. “ I never thought of it that way before. 
You see, we southern folks certainly do naturally 
turn to signs and omens. It’s in our blood, I 
reckon. It never seemed silly to me before, but 
when you talk like that, it certainly does appear 
might} 1 ' childish.” 

“ Does Carter tremble at a white cat before 
breakfast, or put on crape for an owl at night? ” 
asked Hilda. 

Page looked surprised. “ Carter ? ” she echoed. 
“ Oh, no, indeed. Gentlemen are mighty differ¬ 
ent, you know. He just laughs at me.” 

“ Well, you follow Carter’s example after this 
and you’ll be happier,” advised Hilda briskly. 
“ Owls and unlucky pussies are pure, sheer barba¬ 
rism and you are living in this twentieth century 
with wireless telegraphy and talking-machines and 
airships. With a brother in a good business, you 
just don’t dare to be superstitious any longer.” 

“ Very well, Hilda, I reckon you’re right,” re¬ 
plied Page so meekly that Hilda simply had to kiss 
her. 

“ You’re a perfect dear, owls or no owls,” she de¬ 
clared. “And now I must go on up-stairs. I want 
to see Mother before she goes out.” 

3i3 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


She started off bravely but she was halted again 
by Jack. He was looking very odd. He had the 
afternoon paper stuffed in his coat pocket. He 
drew Hilda out to the summer-house before he 
would speak. 

“ I’ve seen all about her,” he said without looking 
at Hilda. “ It’s in the paper here. She’s played 
the same game in lots of cities. She got off 
with some jewelry she had sent on approval. 
Sounds like a regular thriller, doesn’t it? I 
never thought I’d drive about with a famous 
lady-burglar like that. I don’t wonder she was 
scared stiff when the traffic cop held us up last 
night.” 

Hilda knew he was talking volubly to give her 
time to recover from the shock. She laid a hand 
on his arm. “ Jack, dear,” she said very seriously, 
“ I knew about it this morning. That is, I knew of 
part of it. You were right about trusting a strange 
woman.” 

He interrupted her anxiously. “ Then it was 
true that vou’d been letting vourself in for her? ” 
he asked quickly. “ Cousin Hilda, please tell me 
if you spent much on her. Have you overdrawn 
again? ” 

Hilda nodded. She could not speak. 

He whistled softly. “ Jiminy! ” was all he said, 
but it held a world of compassion. He frowned 

3M 


PROFIT AND LOSS 

and then added briskly, “ You wait here a minute, 
will you? ” 

Pie returned in another minute leading his treas¬ 
ured Bonaparte. Hilda was puzzled, but she tried 
to enter into his scheme, whatever it might be. 

“ How fine he looks,” she said. “ He’s better 
and better every day.” 

Jack wagged his head triumphantly as he sur¬ 
veyed Bonaparte. “ I told you he had blood! ” he 
bragged. 

Bonaparte might never be as remarkable as his 
owner thought him, but he did present a very good 
appearance with his coat shining and his hoofs well 
blackened and a new russet halter on his intelligent 
head. It was impossible to believe that he was the 
same animal as the forlorn wreck Jack had led into 
the drive that day in July. 

“ I’ve had an offer for him to-day,” Jack ex¬ 
plained. “ I haven’t told anyone. But I know 
what I’m going to do about it. I’m going to sell 
him and make you take the money to make up your 
accounts. You’ve got to take it, no matter what 
you say. It mayn’t be much, but it’ll help. And 
I’ve got some more saved,—just in case it was 
needed. You’ve got to take that, too. You can’t 
drop out and leave that Jean-girl alone. You 
can’t. Cousin Hilda, and you know it.” 

He was red from earnestness and embarrass- 

3i5 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


ment. He held Bonaparte’s halter with a nervous 
grasp, frowning at her in his effort to make her see 
the matter as he did. “You can’t drop out, you 
know,” he added. 

Hilda’s eyes were full of tears. She put a hand 
on his arm. “ You’re very good to me, Jack,” she 
answered earnestly. “ I’ll never, never forget it. 
But you can’t help me this time. This is something 
I’ve got to stand up to alone, don’t you see? I’ve 
made a mess of things again and I’m the only one 
who can pay.” 

She saw by his gloomy look that he understood. 
He would not speak, but merely nodded and turned 
to take his rejected offering back to the stall. 
Hilda halted him with a gesture. “ Please give me 
the paper,” she said gently. “ I’m sorry, Jack, but 
you see how it is.” 

He gave her the folded sheet and she stopped in 
the summer-house to spread it on the table. She 
grew pale as she saw the flaring caption: “ Fasci¬ 
nating Lady Raffles Fools Society Friends,” and 
her heart sank as she read. It was too grimy a tale 
of fraud and intrigue to associate with her charm¬ 
ing Mrs. Bradford, but there was no denying the 
printed facts. Every detail of the last two years 
that had been available was flared out in merciless 
exactness. Hilda saw the name of Belmont, South 
Carolina, in the list. 

316 



PAGE HELD OUT A LETTER WITH A BUSINESS HEADING 


















PROFIT AND LOSS 

She shuddered at the thought of the arrest and 
exposure in the city where Mrs. Bradford had fled 
over night. All her anger was gone and she felt 
only a sick regret and sadness. “ She was so clever 
and might have done so much good,” she thought, 
folding the paper. “ She worked pretty hard, too. 
It certainly didn’t pay.” 

She felt suddenly almost happy. Her own bur¬ 
den seemed to lighten beside the load of guilt under 
which Mrs. Bradford had sunk. She held her head 
high as she walked. She was very thankful for her 
own easy path. 

Page and Mrs. Hare were in the hall, and Page’s 
glowing face made her pause. In reply to her look 
Page held out a letter, with a business heading. 

“ He wants me to come down to Rio as soon as I 
can,” she said. “ Oh, Hilda, he’s getting on won¬ 
derfully. It’s like magic, isn’t it? He’s only been 
in the firm two weeks and he wants me to come 
down! ” 

Hilda stopped to pat Page’s shoulder. “ It’s the 
magic of plain every-day saving, I suppose,” she 
smiled back. “ Don’t you see,—now he’s in the 
firm he doesn’t have to strip himself of every cent. 
He’s back to normal again.” 

“ I’ve been telling Page that she ought to have 
some of her money back before she has to tell Car¬ 
ter of her hard times,” Mrs. Hare said, looking up 

3i7 


HILDA OF GREY COT 

from her own mail. “Mr. Langdon said this 
morning that the bank would pay one-third in about 
a fortnight. That would be worth waiting an 
extra week for, wouldn’t it. Page? She wanted to 
go right off on the next steamer,” she added, laugh¬ 
ing at Page’s expression. 

“ I reckon you’re right, Mrs. Hare, but two 
weeks is a mighty long time to wait,—when you’ve 
been waiting a right smart bit already,” confessed 
Page. “ I’ll write Carter that I’ll take the first 
boat after Friday week. That’ll settle it,” and she 
disappeared into the library, radiant in her recov¬ 
ered joy. 

Hilda tore open Jean’s note as she went toward 
the stairs. “ She’ll be here this afternoon,” she told 
her mother in surprise. “ She says she decided to 
come home this week-end and that she’s got another 
promise of some work for us,—for the partner¬ 
ship.” She stopped abruptly, thrusting the note 
inside the paper which she still held. “ Mother, 
will you come up and see my accounts? I’d rather 
have things settled before Jean gets here. She’s 
coming about four.” 

She heard her mother’s assent and she went up¬ 
stairs to her desk and took out her books and the 
sheaf of bills. All her grief for her failure swept 
over her again. She sat down before the desk with 
a cold hard lump in her throat. She looked back 

3i8 


PROFIT AND LOSS 

over the past weeks and hated herself again for her 
weakness. 

“ If I’d only not felt so cocksure of myself,” she 
groaned, flattening the crumpled pile of bills with 
the palm of one cold hand. She knew at this final 
moment what she had lost, how much it meant to 
her, and why she had lost it. “I was so everlast¬ 
ingly eager to do it all myself,” she thought. “ I’d 
have been all right now if I’d told Mother or Jean 
—oh, I know it, now that I’ve lost everything! ” 

She got up and walked to the window. The 
lovely peaceful scene stabbed her with memories. 
In the summer-house she had drawn most of the 
plans for the little room at Hampton Row; the fen¬ 
der of the blue foursome showing from the open 
garage spoke of those trips with Mrs. Bradford and 
without her to Hampton, to the shops; the chairs 
under the lindens reminded her of Captain Mul- 
ford’s visit. She turned away. The pain was too 
poignant to be borne. 

As she walked restlessly about she heard her 
mothei'’s voice below talking to someone over the 
telephone. She halted for a moment and heard the 
last sentences. A pang of dismay shot along her 
tingling nerves. 

“ Oh, why did she say we’d be glad to see them 
this afternoon?” she murmured. “ She might have 
known I couldn’t care for anything to-day. And 

3i9 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


Mr. Skelton, too! I shouldn’t mind Miss DuBois 
and Esther Marie quite so much, but he’s a perfect 
stranger. Oh, why did she let them come? ” 

It seemed to her in her moment of keen misery as 
though she could not endure the ordeal before her. 
The partnership had never seemed so dear to her as 
in this hour when she fully realized she had lost it. 
The memory of the back terrace with Hal’s narrow 
bed among the flowers came to her. Her promise 
had been broken almost as soon as given. 

She started at the sound of her mother’s foot¬ 
steps. She would not play the coward before 
others, no matter how agonized when alone. The 
very hopelessness of her case called for a brave 
front. She would not seek sympathy where she 
deserved blame. 

She went to her desk and took up the sheaf of 
bills. Her face was rather pale but her eyes were 
steady. She was ready for the ordeal. 


320 


CHAPTER XXII 


THE VERDICT 

“ You see I’ve burnt my jam,” said Hilda 
bravely, “ to a crisp. 

“ Money isn’t such a contemptibly unimportant 
matter after all,” she added. “ It hasn’t been so 
pitifully easy as I expected it to be.” 

It was a bitter moment. A memory of her gay 
boast of two months before came to her. The odor 
of burnt jam was again in her nostrils as she faced 
her mother with pallid lips. 

“ You won’t find anything wrong with the books 
for last month, but there is something that I did 
not put down,—something that makes all the rest 
count for nothing,” she began resolutely. 

She did not spare herself. She told the whole 
story relentlessly. She made no mention of her 
promise to Hal. She did not want to buy forgive¬ 
ness even for the sake of that sacred promise. She 
laid the bills, which she held in her trembling hands, 
on the desk beside the account books. 

“ I don’t expect to have my failure overlooked,” 

she ended in the same firm tone. “ I shall have to 

321 


L 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


take the rest of this month’s money to pay on these 
bills,—the store people have agreed to wait for the 
rest. I shall pay every cent myself, of course.” 

“ Your books are very neat,” said Mrs. Hare ab¬ 
sently. 

Hilda saw she wished to soften the blow, so she 
spoke quickly. “ I’ve lost the partnership, of 
course, and it’s my own fault. I don’t expect you 
to help pay for my idiocy. I’ve figured it out and 
I can have everything settled up in-” 

The sound of voices in the hall below made them 
both start. Mrs. Hare rose and went to the door 
while Hilda stood where she was, her fingers on the 
little pile of bills and her lips open to finish her sen¬ 
tence. 

“ It’s the people from The Pines,” said Mrs. 
Hare in surprise. “ They are early, surely. I un¬ 
derstood them to say four o’clock. Well, my dear, 
there’s nothing for it. We must go down,—or at 
least, I will go, while you slip into another frock. 
We’ll be in the breakfast-room. It looks too much 
like rain to have tea out-of-doors to-dav.” 

Hilda’s heart sank. She preferred instant exe¬ 
cution to lingering tortures. She hurried about 
her dressing with the cold certainty of defeat heavy 
upon her. No matter how she tried to pretend, she 
could not deceive herself,—the partnership meant 

everything to her, and it was lost forever! 

322 



THE VERDICT 


“ May I come up? ” cried Esther Marie’s voice in 
the hall. 

Hilda swallowed the lump in her throat and 
called as gaily as she could, and Esther Marie stood 
on the threshold. 

“ I feel that I shall expire if I wait any longer,” 
she said breathlessly. “ I made them come earlier 
for I wanted you to talk to Father before anyone 
else happened in. I’ve been so anxious about it.” 

Hilda snapped the last fastening of her sash and 
then raised her head, smiling. “ What terrible 
problem is gnawing at your heart now? ” she asked 
lightly. Esther Marie’s tremendous mysteries were 
always amusing. 

“ It’s about my birthday present,” began her 
young friend. “ I’ve had such a time deciding.” 

Hilda sat down on the window-seat, holding out 
a hand. “ Come and confess,” she urged gaily. 
“ Better keep them waiting down-stairs than to ex¬ 
pire in their arms. What’s the matter with your 
birthday present? ” 

Esther Marie took the extended hand shyly, for 
she was not given to demonstrations. She sat down 
close to Hilda, looking straight at her with her 
clear, serious hazel eyes. 

“ I prefer to wait until I know what you will say 
about it,” she replied gravely. “ I suppose there’ll 
be something wrong about it,—though I could not 

323 


HILDA OR GREY COT 

for the life of me find a flaw in it till now.” Then 
she puckered her brow as for a great confession, but 
all she said was, “ You saved my life, you know.” 

“ Is that all you have to tell me? ” said Hilda, 
amused. “ That’s past history.” 

Esther Marie stiffened and dropped her hand. 

“ I merely mentioned it because I always think it 
when I look at you. You did, you know, from a 

watery-” but she did not finish. Instead, she 

changed her tone to one of intense eagerness. 
“ I’ve made up my mind about my birthday pres¬ 
ent. And Aunty Lavendar says it’s all right. And 
Father says it’s all right. Now I’ve come over to 
you to hear you say it’s all right.” 

“I?” asked Hilda, rather startled. “But I 
haven’t anything to do with it, Esther Marie. If 
your father and Miss DuBois-” 

Esther Marie stopped her with an imperious ges¬ 
ture. “You have everything to do with it,” she 
declared firmly. 

“ But-” began Hilda again. 

Again Esther Marie halted her with the imperi¬ 
ous gesture. “Wait,” she commanded in great 
agitation. “ You have everything to say about 
it, for you’ll have to do it. Father says I may 
have my real, grown-up rooms, now that I’m 
fourteen,—a whole set of them to myself, and I’ve 
chosen those three south rooms on the second floor 

324 





THE VERDICT 


that you saw, and I’m going to get you to design 
them, paper, rugs, furniture, everything!” 

Hilda was too surprised to speak. 

Esther Marie flew at her with the energy of de¬ 
spair,—she thought the pause meant refusal. 
“ Don’t tell me you won’t do it! I saw that sketch 
you made for a duclde little room in nice brown-red 
bloomy tones, and I’m just crazy to have my sit¬ 
ting-room like that.” 

Hilda’s heart gave a great throb and then fell. 

“ I’d love to do it for you,” she replied quietly, 
“ but I don’t believe I can. I’m not going to do 
much of that sort of thing after this. Hark, there’s 
someone coming in. We’ll have to go down,” and 
she rose, still with the other’s hand in hers, and went 
quickly to the hallway. 

Esther Marie submitted silently. It was only 
when they were at the threshold of the breakfast- 
room that she spoke. “ Your mother said you 
would do it for me,” she announced in a small cold 
voice. “ I shouldn’t have asked you if it hadn’t 
been quite all right.” 

She dropped Hilda’s arm and walked stiffly to 
the group at the tea-table. Hilda would have fol¬ 
lowed her if her arm had not been touched by Jean, 
who was standing near talking with Jack, who 
moved off to join Esther Marie. Jean smiled after 
him. “ He’s forgotten he ever dressed up for 

325 


HILDA OF GREY COT 


Janey Sloan, hasn’t he? Been bragging up little 
Miss Golcltop’s collections for ten whole minutes. 
He doesn’t seem to despise her as you said he did at 
first.” 

“ He’s really the dearest thing in the world, and 
those two are great cronies,” Hilda answered, tak¬ 
ing Jean’s silently extended hand. “To have seen 
them at first glaring at each other over that kitten 
you’d never have believed that they’d come to be 
such good friends. It certainly is strange how 
things come about.” 

Jean nodded. “ Everything is on the move,” she 
admitted in her genial drawl. Her face showed the 
grief that was with her but her manner never 
changed. “ We’ll be hauling out of private life 
into our business careers before so very long, when 
it comes to that. Mr. Dalton says you’ll be fit 
as a fiddle by next month. I had a long letter 
from E. Landis to-day. Show it to you after the 
party.” 

Hilda simply could not answer. Her lips re¬ 
fused to say the words. Jean was so sure of her. 
Perhaps this was the very hardest moment of her 
punishment, when she realized how much the plan 
had come to mean to Jean in her bereavement. She 
stood still, watching Jean go forward to meet little 
Miss DuBois and wondering how she could ever tell 
her of her failure. 

326 


THE VERDICT 

She caught her mother’s eyes on her and moved 
to the tea-table mechanically. Mrs. Hare was 
standing by the tea-table. The long window into 
the back garden,—the rose-garden,—was directly 
behind her and the grey clouds which had been low¬ 
ering all day lifted, showing a golden rift of sunset 
that made an auriole for her shapely head. Her 
lips were parted in a smile, and she was saying 
something to a tall, fine-looking man beside her 
which seemed to give them both pleasure. Hilda 
thought she looked wonderfully fresh and sweet in 
her bright earnestness. 

“ I haven’t lost everything when I’ve got her,” 
she thought with a thrill of pride. “ I was almost 
forgetting how wonderful she is. And it’s the sort 
of loveliness that lasts. I wonder what she’s say¬ 
ing to Mr. Skelton, for of course that is Esther 
Marie’s father. His eyes are exactly like hers. 
They look as if they were talking about me. Oh, 
dear.” 

It was not long before her curiosity was satisfied. 
Mrs. Hare greeted her with a still brighter smile as 
she made the introductions. “ I have been talking 
it over with Mr. Skelton and we both feel that 
Esther Marie must have her way,” she said brightly, 
ignoring Hilda’s startled look. “ I told her to ask 
you, but she has made off with Jack and I suppose 
they are inspecting the latest additions to the snake 

327 



HILDA OF GREY, COT 

colony. Mr. Skelton has a commission for you, my 
dear.” 

Hilda felt the room swim but she Held herself 
steady. She tried to smile at Mr. Skelton as she 
replied, but it was a poor attempt. 

“ You’re very kind and I should love to do it,” 
she said awkwardly. “ Esther Marie did tell me 
about it but she understands that I am not going to 
be an interior decorator, after all.” 

She could not say more without betraying her¬ 
self. 

Mr. Skelton looked puzzled but Mrs. Hare spoke 
quickly, forestalling Hilda’s further explanation. 
“ There is a mistake, Mr. Skelton, and it is my 
fault. Hilda seems to think that she must refuse 
Esther Marie’s request,—not because she does not 
want to do it, but because of a compact between us. 
I know she would be very glad to do the work and 
so I accept your offer for her. You must talk it 
over after I have had a few w r ords with hex*,” and 
she turned to Hilda while he courteously withdrew 
to chat with Miss DuBois and Jean. 

Mrs. Hare lowered her voice so that the othei'S 
could not hear. “ My dearest gild, you’re not go¬ 
ing to give up after all your preparation,” she said 
with a little catch in her voice. “You must take the 
commission for the rooms at The Pines,—it’s too 

fine a chance to be lost, and I believe you can do it 

328 


THE VERDICT 

well. I’ve been talking with Mr. Dalton and he 
says you’ve done splendidly.” 

“ But-” interposed Hilda, bewildered. 

Her mother silenced her with a gesture. “ I 
couldn’t pronounce judgment all in a moment on 
the other matter,” she went on seriously. “ I 
wanted to get all the facts. I have questioned 
Page and Jack and Mr. Dalton, and I know about 
your promise to Hal. I am very glad to know that 
you kept back the facts that might plead for you. 
You told only the things that were against you. 
Page will be able to repay the money you spent on 
her,—and it is only justice to her that you should 
take it.” 

“ I didn’t expect it,” began Hilda. 

“Certainly not,” returned her mother. “Your 
kindness would have meant little if you had. Never¬ 
theless, the money will straighten your last month’s 
account, and add something to the sum for those 
bills. Mr. Skelton’s offer is liberal and if you ac¬ 
cept it, you will be able to end the two months’ pro¬ 
bation with a clean slate. Isn’t it worth trying 
for? ” 

Hilda could not realize for a moment that she was 
actually being offered salvation. She drew a deep 
breath as the tremendous fact dawned on her, and 
she put a trembling hand on her mother’s where it 
lay on the edge of the tea-table. “ Do you mean 

329 



HILDA OF GREY COT 

I’m to have a chance? Do you mean the partner¬ 
ship?” she stammered. “Oh, Mother, do you 
really mean that? ” 

Mrs. Hare’s face was very tender as she an¬ 
swered. “ I mean just that,” she said softly. 
“ Now go and see what Jean has to tell you. She 
wanted to see you about another piece of work, I 
believe. And after that, you must talk business 
with Mr. Skelton. Esther Marie seems to have 
evaporated entirely.” 

The sun broke through the last shred of cloud 
and flung a shaft of vivid gold straight into Hilda’s 
dazzled eyes. She saw the world through a shining 
maze of happiness,—the circle of friendly faces, the 
familiar room, the lindens and the rose-garden. 

She took up the plate her mother put into her 
hands and she looked into her mother’s eyes with a 
deep, long look of silent rapture. She had no 
words large enough to ease her heart. It seemed 
to her, as their eyes met in understanding love, that 
the odor of strawberry jam floated out upon the 
sunlit air. She caught her breath in a little tremu¬ 
lous laugh. 

“ I—I hope you can trust me with the jam-pots 
this time,” she said. “You’ll all have to help me, 
though. I’ve had enough of trying it alone! ” 


330 





























































































FEB 9 



















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































